In a novel drive to force wilful defaulters to pay back their loans, Catholic Syrian Bank (CSB) employees on Thursday morning held silent dharnas in front of two firms in the city that owed huge sums to the bank.
The employees, with gags on and carrying banners, staged the dharna to recover the dues as the first stage of the ‘name-and-shame’ strategy to let the world know that the borrowers had wilfully defaulted repayment. The agitators carried banners that said: “We have supported you all the way, now repay your dues and support us.”
The agitation, claimed to be with the support of all unions and all levels of employees and management, was held in parts of the State. The bank had identified 30 wilful defaulters across the State, who owed more than ₹50 lakh. However, some of them had, fearing loss of reputation and business, paid up the dues. The Thrissur-based CSB has made losses for the past two years, and one of the causes was said to be the high percentage of bad debts (NPAs).
CVR Rajendran, the CEO and MD of the CSB, had, while he was the chairman and MD of the public-sector Andhra Bank, successfully employed the ‘name-and-shame’ strategy to recover the debts from wilful defaulters. A top Telugu actor, who owed several crores of rupees to the Andhra Bank, had voluntarily paid his dues following a dharna by the bank’s unions in front of his business firms.
CSB employees said they supported the drive as they feared that if the bank continued to make losses their salaries would be cut back.
