Monday, January 9 2006 14:13 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Cautioning that performance of Public Sector Banks could be adversely affected due to staff shortage in vital areas, Bank Unions today (Jan 09, 2006) asked the government to take measures to fill up the estimated 40,000 clerical level vacancies all over the country.

"We are facing a shortage of 40,000 clerical workers in various PSU banks all over the country and it is essential for the government to take immediate steps to fill up the vacancies," Delhi Convener of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) V K Gupta told sources.

The UFBU is an apex body of nine unions with staff strength of over 10 lakh workers.

Gupta said while the Public Sector Banks have been improving their performance considerably "it is now for the Centre to take initiatives to fill up the staff shortage".

Gupta did not rule out approaching Finance Minister P Chidambaram on the matter, saying the demand-supply gap was adversely affecting the performance of the banks.

"Business worth crores of rupees might be getting affected due to this problem and for the PSU banks to be able to effectively compete with private and foreign banks, it is imperative to address the issue," he said.

Citing an example, Gupta said in State Bank, of which he is the General Secretary of the Staff Welfare Association, the average age at the clerical level had risen to 50 years due to freeze on recruitment. He said there was a shortage of 2,000 clerical staff in the State Bank all over the country.