SBI strike called off after FM intervenes, pension revised

Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who had invited the SBI union leaders and management to Delhi after talks in Mumbai failed, expressed happiness that the settlement had been reached.

8220;The cut-off point for calculating pension, that I8217;ve always held as irrelevant and outdated, has been readjusted quite correctly as per revised pay scales,8221; Chidambaram said.

The earlier cut-off point for the pension formula was related to 1992 pay scales.

Stating that SBI staffers all across the country will resume duty tomorrow morning, Chidambaram said, 8220;Customers have been put to some inconvenience8230; but I8217;ve no doubt that all this will be removed by tomorrow.8221;

Earlier in the day, Chidambaram had said: 8220;Any revision in the pension formula of SBI should not spark off competitive demands from employees of other nationalised banks and PSUs.8221;

While SBI is required to contribute 10 per cent of employees8217; salary towards pension contributions, it has been making much higher contributions in recent years to sustain pension promises.

Chidambaram noted that 8220;a new pension formula8221; will have to factor in the bank8217;s capacity to adequately contribute for meeting the promised pension outgo.