In India, the deadly coronavirus pandemic continues to take its tragic toll, including in the banking sector which has been deemed an essential service.
At 24 million infections and around 270,000 deaths, India has suffered severely from the ongoing second coronavirus wave.
Although strict lockdowns measures have been imposed in many states, the banking sector has been deemed as an essential service with exemptions such as the permission, in some cases, to have as much as 50 percent of branch employees come to work to avoid disruption.
Rising Count
Thus far, the virus has caused around 150,000 employees from the banking sector to be infected with about 1,200 deaths, according to a report by Indian business news website «Moneycontrol» citing data compiled by the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA).
Separately, general secretary of the All India Bank Officers’ Association S. Nagarajan also cited a similar fatality figure of more than 1,000 workers, according to a «Bloomberg» report.
«Bank employees are frontline workers and the virus is affecting them,» Nagarajan said.
Forced Attendance
The «Moneycontrol» report underlined a particularly dire situation for branch employees, many of whom have been pressured to come to work amid the deadly crisis.
«We have high number of cases in the area. But, we have been asked to come for work,» said one unnamed state-run bank official. «The situation is not good. Banks are open and at some places, staff members have been beaten up by police while on their way to office.»
«Despite high risk of infection, I was asked to attend office and later tested positive last year,» said another anonymous Chennai-based state-run bank official. «The branch manager didn’t even give me time to recover from the infection-related health issues fully. I had to return to work.»
Prioritizing Vaccines
Following the release of the death count report, India’s Finance Ministry asked all states and union territory governments to instruct local authorities to vaccinate banking and other financial services employees on priority.
«I once again request you to kindly consider putting in place a special dispensation for vaccination of these employees on priority,» said Department of Financial Services (DFS) Secretary Debasish Panda in an official letter.
«This would go a long way in boosting their morale and enhancing their enthusiasm for seamless provision of financial services.»
High Hurdle
India will have to make a tough balancing act to prioritize the allocation of vaccines to the financial sector given the serious shortages that the country continues to face.
With over 180 million shots administered to a population of nearly 1.4 billion, Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker estimates that it will take 2.5 years for 75 percent of the whole country to receive two doses.
Compensation Policy
In addition, some industry players will also need to shoulder the cost of death with most state-run banks having already announced a compensation of 2,000,000 Indian rupees ($27,300) for coronavirus-related fatalities.
But despite the launch of such policies, there are still some transparency issues related to actual cases.
«Not all banks are forthcoming in sharing the details and compensation policies for the families of those who died due to this virus,» said AIBEA general secretary CH Venkatachalam.
Positive Signs
Still, there are reasons for optimism in India with data indicating that the peak has possibly been reached or is nearing.
The seven-day average of the national case count, which adjusts for daily fluctuations, declined last week for the first time during the second wave, according to local data. Similar indicators of a nearing peak have also been observed in some of the most severely hit states like Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
«Kudos to our bankers, insurers, payment service providers, [bank agents] for ensuring uninterrupted delivery of banking and financial services to people in need during these challenging times,» said DFS Secretary Panda separately in a social media post last Friday.
