Public sector banks have opposed the government’s move to trim the size of their top management. The government’s move would force the banks to sacrifice the quality of supervisory control amid concerns over rising bad loans and lose their grip on ground-level business. The banks have made it clear to the government that size of business should not merely be the sole criterion for deciding the number of general managers and their deputies.

Earlier in the month, the finance ministry had proposed to reduce the number of senior executives in public sector banks apparently to help them tide over the crisis at their top deck created due to mass retirement. Accordingly, government banks should not have more than 10 general managers for business up to Rs 1.5 lakh crore and proposed a 1:3:9 ratio of GM, DGM and AGMs. At present, banks can have a maximum of 20 GMs for Rs 1 lakh-crore business.

Source: The Economic Times