(REGD. NO. 321/MDS) (RECOGNISED BY THE MANAGEMENT)(AFFILIATED TO ALL INDIA BANK OFFICERS’ CONFEDERATION)

Administrative Office : 763, Anna Salai, Chennai - 600 002. General : 044 - 2852 1925, 2852 5214, 2851 7072President / General Secretary : 2851 4134, Fax : 2852 9515

Email : ioboa@iobnet.co.in Website : www.ioboa.co.in

Indian Overseas BankOfficers’ Association

OUR 23RD TRIENNIAL CONFERENCEOUR 23RD TRIENNIAL CONFERENCEOUR 23RD TRIENNIAL CONFERENCE

A HUGE SUCCESSA HUGE SUCCESSA HUGE SUCCESSthCir. No.18/2017 30 October 2017

Dear Comrade,

Our 23rd Triennial Conference will be etched in the history of IOBOA for two reasons viz. being Golden

Jubilee Conference and also for its grandeur. The seeds of the Organisation were sown in the year 1967

by Com. K.V. Balasubramanian, affectionately called “Annachi” by the entire rank and file and

Com. V.S.T. Kumaraswamy, who held double distinction as founder President of IOBOA and also General

Manager of IOB.

As you all know that this is a maiden conference for both the General Secretary & President after

taking over the mantle from their illustrious predecessors during the triennial term 2014 – 2017. The task

of conducting a Conference of an extraordinary magnitude posed a challenge too as experienced office

bearers have superannuated.

However, meticulous planning of every miniscule arrangements well in advance for this magnificent

event resulted in vibrancy and grandeur. The long haul of hard work ultimately paid off for a thunderous

success. Sceptic about inexperience was silenced. The mega event – 23rd Triennial Conference - turned

out to be a watershed moment in the annals of our mighty organization.

A mammoth gathering of more than 4000 delegates and observers from across the length and breadth

of the country thronged the venue, the picturesque Chennai Trade Centre, at Nandambakkam, in

Chennai. The resurgent comrades bore ample testimony to a resilient trade union, in the service of its

members.

The conference provided a meeting ground for many members sharing not only their happiness and joy

but also recalling the nostalgic memories of their past.

The hardship of long distance travel notwithstanding, the delegates and observers from far flung

regions stayed in Kalyana Mandapams and converged at the venue on the 14th & 15th October 2017, to

witness our Golden Jubilee 23rd Triennial Conference. It was a seamless demonstration of Unity,

Solidarity and Love for our beloved organization – IOBOA.

Comrades, the delegate session of the Conference commenced at 8.45

AM on October 14th with leaders of the present and past lighting the

inaugural lamp. Amrithavarshini troupe led by Mrs.Radha Radhakrishnan,

Mrs Usha Krishnan, Mrs Jayashree Narayanan and Mrs Usha Krishnaswamy,

presented the invocation song.

A short documentary presented by Com.Pauna Kumar, AGS, Central

Office gave a brief but vivid account of the 50 glorious years of our

successful and purposeful journey and it was beamed on the LED wall which

formed the magnificient backdrop. On requests from the participants, the

documentary was repeatedly telecast. It showed the inquisitiveness of the

Gen Next in knowing the struggle behind our organization’s achievement

over the years.

It was followed by the inaugural address by our President Com.T.Murali

Soundararajan on the present scenario of banking industry and its

challenges and our role as a trade union in safeguarding the interests of the

bank.

Your General Secretary presented his report for the Triennial which

brought before the eyes of the participants various international and

national events with trade union's concern, milestones achieved in major

areas of staff welfare measures and the commitment for the coming days

with a touching epilogue over his rising from very small and humble

beginning to higher level in the hierarchy of IOBOA.

It was followed by delegate session with active deliberations from

delegates related to wage revision, vigilance/disciplinary cases, regulated

working hours, five day week and the proposed amendments to the bye-

laws of our association.

The delegates also discussed about various topics mentioned in the

General Secretary's Report and appreciated the elaborate arrangements

made as well the achievements of IOBOA Viz. enhancement in SHL, SVL,

uninterrupted promotion year after year and request transfer/spouse

joining transfer etc. There were suggestions on the betterment of the bank

and in particular the delegates stressed the need to strengthen the training

programme for Gen-Next officers in Credit and Foreign Exchange.

After the deliberations were responded to by the General

Secretary/President to the satisfaction of the delegates, the house

unanimously approved the report of the General Secretary, resolutions to

the General Secretary's report, bye-law amendments proposed,

appointment of auditors and the statement of accounts for the year ended

2015, 2016 and 2017.

The inaugural

function in the

evening got off to a

splendid start at

5.00 PM, with the

invocation song sung by

“Mambalam Sisters” Smt.Chitra & Vijayalakshmi,

the renowned carnatic singers. Shri. R. Kedarnath,

General Manager, Zonal Office, Chennai, as

Chairman of the reception committee, extended a

warm welcome to all the dignitaries and invitees.

Honourable Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Water Resources Management and Ganga

Rejuvenation, Shri. Arjun Ram Meghwal who was to have inaugurated the Conference could not make

due to urgent official commitments and had sent his Warm Wishes for the successful conduct of the

Conference.

The key note address by your General Secretary,

Com. B. Srinivasan, touched upon all issues that

have a direct bearing upon the health of public

sector banks and their enormous contributions to our

economy. His address covered mainly on issues

about wage increase for the bank employees in the

ensuing Bipartite Settlement and also to maintain

parity with Central Government employees. He also

made a thrust to address the issues pertain to

manpower shortage, talent deficit, skill gaps cost

mainly by inadequate recruitment which lead to

reduced attraction for bank job in the market on account of distortion in the parity of compensation vis-

à-vis the Group A officers in the Government of India. He also narrated the efforts being made by the

Government at the Centre to weaken the public sector banks by not infusing sufficient capital at a time

when they badly require it and questioned the wisdom of the Government in classifying public sector

banks as weak and strong based on certain business parameters, which seems to be flawed.

He emphasised upon the need of decent salary package for Bank Officers as they have reached such an

unenviable stage that has thrown an age old and well established principle of fixing monetary

compensation having regard to the level of responsibility, accountability, transferability and required

skill sets to efficiently carry out the job of Bank officers. In fact the current level of risks involved in the

job of a Bank officer is completely at variance with the concept of risk-reward system at work place. He

also made an appeal to the Hon'ble Minister to ensure an attractive entry level Basic Pay for Bankmen

which assumes greater significance in present context when the negotiation for the salary revision of

Bank Officers and Employees are underway. He further added that a proactive, pragmatic and realistic

approach on the part of Central Govt will be an appropriate indication to the Indian Banks' Association.

Our MD & CEO Shir. R. Subramaniakumar, in his chief guest address showered rich encomiums for

IOBOA for their prowess in conducting such a big event flawless. He enthralled the audience with his

impromptu speech. Full of substance and laced with anecdotes and a bit of humour to suit the occasion,

his mastery over the lingua franca of the world was in full view. He deftly put across his views on a whole

range of issues

that confronts

the bank men

today especially

the workforce in our

bank. He minced no words in

letting the audience know of his resolve to take the

bank forward and in the process ensured that it is

able to turnaround in fairly quick time.

During his speech lasting more than an hour, the

audience remained spell bound. His speech was

mesmerizing and thought provoking to say the least and like the fictional character “Pide Piper”, he was

able to carry the crowd that had assembled in large numbers with rare conviction and consummate ease.

The strategy that he had so assiduously crafted for our bank amidst severe odds is a tribute to his never

say die attitude, when the chips are down and heavily loaded against the bank. With rare conviction he

emphasied the role played by public sector banks in nation building and acknowledged their immense

contributions to the vast economic endeavours in our country. He was of the view that ultimately it is the

public sector which will come up trumps in the battle royal and our bank by not only retaining its identity

would also act as the perfect catalyst for our contemporaries to forge ahead, in unison.

The standing ovation that he got at the end of his long but illuminating speech was a true reflection of

his increasing stature and connect he has with rank and file.

Comrades, the award for "Friends of Children"

constituted by IOBOA with a social cause to help

those organisation who endear themselves in the

interest of child welfare has been presented to the

following for the years 2014 - 2017.

1) NESACKARANGAL – Salem 2) KOPAL VANI -

Raipur and 3) NIHARKANA REHABILITATION

CENTRE – Kolkata.

C o m . D r. D .

Thomas Franco

Ra jendra Dev,

General Secretary

o f o u r p a r e n t

organisation AIBOC,

took the centre stage soon

after our MD & CEO had spoken and explained to the

audience the latest developments in the ongoing

talks with the IBA on the XIth Bipartite. He exhorted

the gathering to be in readiness for the battles that

lay ahead in clinching a honourable wage settlement for the bank employees in the country, cutting

across cadres. He wondered why many bank managements had given IBA the mandate to negotiate with

the representative bodies of workmen and officers, at the industry level with regard to future pay

packets of employees up to Scale III only, in the Supervisory Cadre. This has never been the case so far and

also the efforts of the IBA & Government combine to introduce an element of Cost to Company basis for

working out the financial benefits that may accrue to the workforce in the near future, is bereft of logic

and an ill advised move. He reieterated that Public Sector Banks is the nerve centre of Indian economy

and the officers and employees are its heart and soul. The need of the hour is to preserve the identity of

the PSBs by thwarting the ill machinasation of the government and expose the fallacy of the rules namely

Basel III norms which is irrelevant to our regulated financial system.

As one of the negotiators for AIBOC, he gave a vivid description of the issues at stake and progress that

has been made so far in the negotiations, by both the sides, in chronological order. He was all praise for

the rank and file of the organization and that of its affiliates for their relentless fights with some of the

morally bankrupt bank managements against their oppressive ways.

He also spoke about the emotional issues of regulated working hours, five day banking, which are the

need of the hour to have a work life balance for the entire workforce. He stated that the Pradhan Mantri

Jan-Dhan Yojana and Demonetization exercise was successful only because of the exemplary

commitment demonstrated by the officers fraternity in public sector banks.

He also conveyed to the audience the action programme drawn up by AIBOC with particular reference

to “work on time” and other burning issues and be convinced about their ability to clinch the issue and

follow the programmes of the Confederation more rigorously.

Shri. K. Swaminathan, our Executive Director

and guest of honour with his usual simplicity and

candidness spoke about the contribution of IOBOA for

the bank and its members and also he recalled his

earlier days of active participation in all conferences

of IOBOA. He briefed about the problems faced by

banks especially in the public sector and the

solutions that could be found if one were to address

the issues at stake in all fairness and objectivity. He

once again brought into sharp focus the constant

efforts of our MD & CEO in bringing about a

turnaround for our bank that all of us have been longing for quite sometime now and the single minded

devotion and concentration with which he has been burning the midnight oil to achieve the same. He

appealed to all present to put in their best efforts in arresting fresh

slippages and to maximize recoveries. He assured the officers

community in our bank of all possible help in the implementation of

the turnaround plan.

This was followed by an address by Com. Dilip Saha, the President of our

parent organization AIBOC. True to his style he found fault with the banks in giving big ticket advances to

many industrial houses violating norms and guidelines for lending at the instance of powers that be. He

also pointed out the inability of bank managements to initiate timely action against big loan defaulters

and bring them to justice that gave a picture of

unwilling enforcement. He brought forth the fact

that out of the total NPAs in the books of public

sector banks 85% are of high value and only a meager

15% accounts for low value NPAs. There has been

tremendous efforts at the operational level in

recovering low value NPAs. However, the same spirit

is not being forthcoming when it comes to recovering

high value NPAs and very little is done to help the

banks in its efforts to shore up their capital base

through increased recoveries under NPA portfolio.

He lamented that the GOI has been turning a blind eye to the vociferous protests of the UFBU of which

AIBOC is one of the constituents, in not declaring willful defaulters of bank loans as criminal offenders

and the act as a criminal offence. He was of the view that the time has come to lock horns with the GOI

and IBA combine which has been working overtime to bulldoze the genuine aspirations of bank employees

in the country and their demand for a living wage, in a fast changing banking landscape.

Shri. A. K. Srivastava, our Executive Director

who joined our ranks on 9th October 2017 readily

consented to greet on the occasion. He said that a

lot needs to be done by us in taking a large slice of the

retail segment and fee based products at stake. For

this to happen, in fairly quick time, we need to have

many new processes in place, he said. There must

also be continuous innovations in the field of IT

enabled products and services by our bank, he

added. Though our bank had hit the rock bottom due

to the spiralling NPAs, all is not lost, he said. It only

needs a new resolve from all stakeholders in ensuring that the turnaround plan for our bank that has been

put in place under the practical and pragmatic leadership of our mercurial MD & CEO, works wonders for

our bank, in staying the right course and together we shall take it forward in the days to come, he

concluded.

Your President Com. T. Murali Soundararajan, extended greetings to the dignitaries, distinguished

guests, delgates and observers and invitees to the 23rd Triennial Conference of our Association and

expressed that he has been deeply overwhelmed by the warmth and affection shown by comrades across

the length and breadth of the country. He further added that It is indeed a matter of pride for all of us that

IOBOA has been credited with the completion of 50 golden years of its purposeful existence, in the service

of its members

and bank officers

a t l a r g e . T h e

G o l d e n J u b i l e e

celebrations of our

association he informed

the gathering, were held all over India in major

cities, towns and district headquarters, wherever

IOB has presence with much fanfare and in gay

abandon, in 2016. During the celebrations he said

that the achievements of IOBOA were showcased and

its on-going efforts at providing timely succour to the membership were very distinctly brought to light.

He was of the view that the distinguished guests who spoke before him were one in their view that the

economy is poised for a dramatic transformation in the near future. From a note based economy it is

gradually undergoing a sea change in the way trading is being done. Cash transactions are being replaced

by online banking transactions. It is here that the banks both in the public and private sectors of the

country have been new tools for the proposed transactions to take place with relative ease. Many

applications have been developed using different platforms for the benefit of customers. Besides, there

is a learning urge amongst customers and general public alike about these technological tools and

gadgets, he said.

He also spoke about the nature of reforms that the GOI is contemplating in the banking sector. Though

change per se is always better and does a whole of good in the long run, he was of the considered view

that it makes sense if all the stakeholders are taken into confidence before the GOI embarks upon path

breaking reforms in the banking sector. Going a step further he said IOBOA welcomes all such moves of

the GOI provided the public sector character of banks is retained.

IOBOA, he said has been blessed with some of the tallest leaders that the trade union movement in our

country had ever seen. With their visionary approach and foresight, they led our association with

distinction and honour. He further said that we as an organization are greatly indebted to them for their

immense contributions to the growth of the traders community in our bank and we are committed to

carry forward the rich tradition of 'UNITE, SERVE & SECURE”, three pillars or mantras as you may call it

and which connotes the ethos of our organization. He also stressed the importance of perseverance in

conflict resolution and was firm that Organisation is confident of an amiable resolution of pending issues

and keeping up the pace of bank's growth in tact.

This was followed by fraternal greetings from

Com. R. Parthasarathy, President, AIOBEU and

Com. S.C. Balaji, General Secretary, AIOBEU. Both

heaped praises on IOBOA and its leaders past and

present and to a thundering ovation from the august

assembly declared in unequivocal terms that they

are one with IOBOA and shall stand shoulder to

shoulder with us. Both the leaders recalled their long

association with our Organisation and the

comradariness fostered together. Com. Arul Mani

Arasu, General Secretary, All India SC/ST Association

o f I n d i a n

Overseas Bank

E m p l o y e e s

e x p r e s s e d

his fraternal greetings

f o r t h e c o n f e r e n c e .

Com. Vijayakumar, General Secretary of All India

Overseas Bank SC/ST Employees' Welfare Association

and Com. Joy Jones, President, OBC Welfare

Organisation have graced the occasion with their

presence.

The inaugural function of our 23rd Triennial Conference concluded with a vote of thanks by

Com. Abraham Shaji John, Senior Vice President.

Comrades, the second day of the Conference on October 15th commenced from 7.00 AM, with active

participation by delegates for the election of office bearers.

The day's session began with a live demonstration by the eminent Physio Dr. Hamsraj and his team on

how to stay fit. It was followed by a session with useful and humorous tips on naturopathy by the leading

Naturopath from Coimbatore Dr. Subramaniam.

This was followed by an educative and lively Street Play by Dr. Kaleeswaran's troupe on “Save Public

Sector” – which is always close to our heart and main theme of the Conference -. The Street Play

highlighted the importance of public sector in nation building. Then came the light music programme by

the popular troupe “Logu Innisaigeetham” that GenNext members were eagerly waiting for. Members

were enthralled by music and danced to the tunes of some lovely Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Punjabi hits in

gay abandon.

At 4.00 PM, the Chairman of the Election Committee, Com. V. Hariharakrishnan, declared the results

of the election of office bearers for the next triennial period 2017-2020. The Hall broke loose on the

announcement of the office bearers from our entire Team – IOBOA which emerged with thumping victory.

We thank Chairman of the Election Committee ably assisted by other members of the Committee viz.,

Coms. B.S. Murali, K. Ravi and M. Sundaramoorthy and team of volunteers for the smooth and successful

conduct of the election.

Your General Secretary thanked the delegates/volunteers and observers who had come in large

numbers – a sea of humanity seen for the first time in Chennai Trade Centre. Comrades, but for your

active participation and support, this 23rd Triennial Conference could not have been a thundering

success.

With such a grand show of strength we re-dedicate ourselves in the service of our members who are the

cause and purpose of our existence. We are proud of the enlightened membership – an eternal source of

strength to us. We once again thank the members for their continued support and the confidence

reposed in the leadership.

The two day conference shall be forever afloat in our memories in the years to come for such was its

grandeur that even a professional event manager would feel envious of the paraphernalia which was on

full display. Once again IOBOA has established its supremacy in organizing a mammoth conference with

precision in every finer details. I am sure, this historical Golden Jubilee Conference has left indelible

impression and will be lingering in the minds of all the dignitaries and

invitees for many years to come.

Comrades, with your active support we are confident of surmounting

all obstacles. We wish to conclude on a positive note in the words of

Napoleon Bonaparte; “To think a thing impossible is to make it so”. We will

hence strive hard to achieve the impossible too!

With revolutionary greetings,

IOB ZINDABAD

IOBOA ZINDABAD

AIBOC ZINDABAD

OUR 23RD TRIENNIAL CONFERENCE ZINDABAD

LONG LIVE IOB LONG LIVE OUR UNITY LONG LIVE IOBOA

(B. SRINIVASAN)General Secretary

(T. MURALI SOUNDARARAJAN)President