Amidst protests, Vijaya Bank, one of the jewels of the ‘Banking Cradle of India’, will become history on Monday when it gets merged with Bank of Baroda along with Dena Bank.
Undivided Dakshina Kannada district was called the ‘Banking Cradle of India’ following the establishment of Corporation Bank, SyndicateBank, Canara Bank, Vijaya Bank, and Karnataka Bank with the former four becoming nationalised.
Amidst vociferous protests by employees’ unions, customers, and political parties, the Union government finalised the merger on January 2.
According to All India Vijay Bank Officers’ Association general secretary K. Prakash Rao, the amalgamation of banks with different cultures and operations in different geographical locations is a great mismatch and will adversely affect the overall business and profitability.
He said while Vijaya Bank has continuously been earning profit for the past several years, including the latest ₹727 crore as on March 31, 2018, BoB’s latest loss was ₹2,431 crore.
The merger will thus severely affect the performance of the entity, Mr. Rao said.
Opposition Congress too took up the cudgel against the merger, but belatedly.
Invoking the ‘Tulunadu pride’ sentiment, the party has made the merger an issue for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
On the other hand, the ruling BJP claims the merger process had started during the tenure of UPA II and it reached the conclusion at present.
