In order to encourage employees to take COVID-19 vaccination, various banks like State Bank of India (SBI), Central Bank of India (CBI), Canara Bank, Federal Bank among others have taken various initiatives.
SBI, CBI and Canara Bank will reimburse the cost of vaccination, Rs 250 per dose per head incurred, by their employees who are above 45 and their family members. Meanwhile, commercial bank, Federal Bank, has started a drive for vaccination of its employees and their family members against COVID-19. The bank is partnering with reputed hospitals at various centres for this initiative. “This drive by Federal Bank comes as a step towards speeding up the inoculation of bankers and their family members which will ultimately result in uninterrupted service to the bank’s customers,” stated the bank. Federal Bank is funding numerous COVID-19 relief and vaccination initiatives all over India for the public as well.
In addition, SBI had decided to contribute Rs 11 crore to the PM CARES Fund. Recently, Dinesh Khara, Chairman, SBI said, “The fight against the pandemic is not yet over, and as a responsible Corporate Citizen, we consider it our duty to support the government's efforts to vaccinate all.”
Meanwhile, bank unions have been requesting the bank management to adopt measures to safeguard the lives of banking employees. Recently, Maharashtra State Bank Employees Federation General Secretary Devidas Tuljapurkar wrote in the letter addressed to the general manager (SLBC), Bank of Maharashtra, said, “We request you to take immediate and prompt action to safeguard the interests of the banking fraternity and interests of the society at large. We also request you to take initiative to make special arrangements for the vaccination of all the Bank employees who are frontline warriors in fighting COVID-19.”
SBI employs around 2.49 lakh people, CBI had around 0.33 lakh employees, Canara employs around 90,000 people and Federal Bank has around 12,496 (as of 2020).
