Senior citizens ventilate grievances at SBI services

FROM OUR  Special Correspondent

Silchar, May 7: It is a matter of concern that though the number of customers of banks are increasing every day, the services are deteriorating, particularly in respect of SBI. This has been reflected in a complaint sent to the Deputy General Mager, Customer Services Department, SBI, Mumbai, by Prof. Dilip Kumar Dey, secretary, Proactive Senior Citizens’ Forum on Saturday. The complaint records his painful experiences about the services of the SBI Silchar and New Silchar branches.

 This problem, as Prof. Dey understands, is presumably for want of cash and shortage of staff. Even at the beginning of the current month, people have to run from one inoperative or cashless ATM to another to withdraw money. In such a situation, senior citizens in particular have to rush to the SBI where they have to stand in long queue for hours to withdraw money from their pension savings account.

 On the three days of May 3, 4 and 5, they had sorrowful experiences and some of them submitted a written complaint to the Chief Mager, New Silchar Branch, here rrating their plight. Their allegation is not against any particular officer. The New Silchar Branch is quite big one in terms of the volume of customers and cash transactions. Sadly enough, there are around 10 cash counters and only one has been desigted for senior citizens, male and female.  The earlier system of coupon has been done away with for the last several months. With the result that even persons of 70 or 80 years are bound to stand in queue for 3 to 4 hours at a stretch that goes beyond their mental and physical strains. The government is yet to introduce sweep machine facilities for bill-payment in respect of electricity, water, telephone (BSNL), hospitals, nursing homes among others. This has culmited in creating misunderstanding between public and bank staff due to the existing faulty system of disposition. The Deputy General Mager, Customer Services Department, SBI, Mumbai, has been impressed upon to take immediate steps to mitigate the grievances of customers, particularly the senior citizens. It has been reminded that senior citizens are depositors and not loan takers of the bank and they deserve nothing but decent and dignified treatment. A copy of the complaint has been sent also to the Deputy Mager, SBI zol office, here.