Empowered committee meeting held on 30.03.16 to discuss 7th CPC issues

Meeting held with postal unions
"A meeting with Cabinet Secretary Sri. P. K. Sinha was held at Cabinet Secretariat Committee Room, Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi on 30.03.2016. All Members of empowered committee i.e. Secretaries of Various Departments were present in the meeting. Department of Post was represented by Sri. Ashutosh Tripathi, Member (Personal), Sri Shailendra Dashora, DDG (Estt) Ms. Manju Pandey, DDG (Personal) & Ms. Anju Nigam DDG (SR) from NFPE Com. R. N. Parashar, Secretary General NFPE & General Secretary P3, Com. Giriraj Singh, President NFPE & General Secretary, R3 & Com. R. Seethalakshmi, Dy. Secretary General, NFPE & General Secretary P4 from FNPO, Com. D. Theagrajan, Secretary General, FNPO & General Secretary R3, Com. T. N. Rahate, President FNPO & General Secretary P4 and from BPEF. Com. S. K. Sinha, General Secretary Postal Accounts Association participated. We presented our views in support of each and every demand submitted by NFPE & FNPO in memorandum to Pay Commission and Empowered Committee and implementation cell. We demanded upgraded scales for each cadre of Department. The meeting was held in a very congenial atmosphere. "

Extended Bank hours for conducting Govt. Business on 31st March, 2016

In view of closing of the current financial year and to facilitate the tax-payers in payment of taxes, the Reserve Bank of India has issued instructions vide notification RBI/2015-16/342 dated March 17, 2016 directing all agency banks to keep the counters of their designated branches conducting government business open till 8.00 p.m. on March 31, 2016. All electronic transactions would however, continue till midnight of March 31, 2016. 

Inoperative PF accounts to earn interest from April 1

Retirement fund body EPFO on Tuesday decided to provide interest on inoperative accounts from April 1, a move which will benefit over nine crore such account-holders having total deposits of over Rs 32,000 crore.

The decision was taken by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation's (EPFO) apex decision making body Central Board of Trustees' headed by Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya.

"UPA government stopped interest on inoperative accounts. Now we have taken a pro-worker decision. The UPA government which was claiming to be a pro-worker, stopped the interest on inoperative accounts. Now, we have decided to credit interest in inoperative accounts. There will not be any inoperative accounts," Dattatreya said after the CBT meeting in New Delhi.

He also informed that interest on deposits in inoperative accounts will be credited from from April 1.

Inoperative accounts are those wherein the contribution has not been received for 36 months.

EPFO had stopped payment of interest to such accounts from April 1, 2011. The move was aimed at discouraging parking of funds with EPFO in these dormant accounts.

The decision will benefit over nine crore such account holders having total deposit of around Rs 32,000 crore.

When asked about a proposal on enhancing proportion of incremental investments of the EPFO in government securities (G-Sec) from 50 per cent to 65 per cent, Labour Secretary Shankar Aggarwal said, "It has already been decided by the Ministry of Finance."

The Secretary said that the limit of 50 per cent was enhanced as they were getting good offers but unable to invest in such instruments as the limit had been exhuasted.

"If we get higher returns in G-Secs then we should be allowed to invest more in these instruments," he said further.

The Board also gave in-principle approval to restructuring of the EPFO as recommended by a sub-committee.

"We have taken decision regarding (cadre) restructuring of the EPFO. There will be a Career Advancement Scheme for over 20,000 employees of EPFO. They are waiting their due promotions for 19 years," Dattatreya said.

Employees of IDBI are on Strike against Government move to privatise

Employees of IDBI are on Strike against Government move to privatise IDBI-they are protesting against Government at Jantar Mantar. We support their cause and request each and every bank employee to contact local leadership of IDBI, participate in their struggle programmes and extend support of We Bankers. Its pity that while strike call is given for reinstatement of a leader, the bigger issue of privatisation has not attracted that much attention of bigger unions, it must have. Let us create pressure and force unions to join IDBI Employees in their agitation.

AIBEA is protesting privatization of IDBI and merger plan for other banks

AIBEA is protesting privatization of IDBI and merger plan for other banks. They say rise in bad debts is due to government, but they do not say why they did not protest misuse of banks by politicians and why did they not stop exploitation of bank by bank staff. They do not say why did they allow the loot of banks through bank staff for decades and why did they remain silent spectator of all evil activities. After all , top leaders of workman employees and that of officers union are also one of members of board of directors of each Bank.

I agree merger of banks is not the solution and I agree that privatization of bank is also not the solution to bank's problem. But I feel that even maintaining current status of government bank is also not the medicine to cure current health of public sector banks. Mergar of Banks can only increase size of bank's volume of business but cannot change the heart and mind of bank staff and that of politicians who used banks to serve their self interests at the cost of common men.

 Banks were nationalised in the year 1969 only to stop exploitation of poor people by promoters of private banks. And now the same government is inclined to handover government bank to private sector to stop exploitation of bank by the government and by government tagged bank staff. Wine remains the  same but bottle changes from time to time.

Culture of flattery by bank staff as well as by trade union leaders to bosses of banks to serve their self interest is root cause of sickness of banks.It is leaders of trade unions like AIBEA, BEFI, AIBOC who have contributed a lot in loot of banks and in spoiling work culture. It is they who gave protection to dishonest staff at the cost of good staff. It is they who  used power of unity and militancy of bank staff to blackmail management of each Bank and to serve their selfish motto only. These leaders could not even protect interest of their member staff because they slowly became flatterers of top officials of banks .   These leaders jointly and severally looted banks in their own style and protected each other whenever their evil works got exposed.

Until there is change in attitude of bank staff and that of politicians we cannot dream of improvement of health of Banks, neither by keeping them as fully government bank nor by partial privatization of them.

We will have to stop malpractices from top to bottom in banks as well as in politics. Banks top bosses get success in their loot only by taking support of trade union leaders.

 All top officials of every bank first try to please trade union leaders. They shut the mouth of these leaders by obliging them in various ways. When they get success in bringing leaders in their good book, top bank officers start acting arbitrarily and in looting it.

 As such trade union leaders are as responsible and accountable as top bosses and politicians are responsible and accountable for ill health of banks.

If each staff , each officer and each trade union leaders become conscious of their duties towards their organization along with their rights  , no power on earth can make banks sick. They could have built pressure on politicians to make legal set up stronger to recover dues from Bank loan defaulters. They could have stopped corrupt bank officers in selling promotion to flatterers. They could have stopped campus recruitment and arbitrarily allowing bank management to pay higher salary to freshers. And so on.....

Trade union leaders should try to understand and make it clear to common
Men  bank staff and bank officers who were and who are  considered non performers by management of government banks become star performers when they leave public banks and join private banks for making their career bright. Staff associated with government banks are as such not bad. But the corruption at higher level make and convert even good performer to act in support of top bosses or they are forced to leave banks .

source important banking news

Income Tax / Central Excise /Customs Inspectors unhappy with pay commission recommendation

Finance Ministry Inspectors Furious over 7th Pay Commission Recommendation – The agitated inspectors claim that they will be drawing less salary than inspectors attached to other ministries.

On an average the Inspectors of various departments of finance ministry bring revenue to the Government to the tune of around 7000 crores in a year.

The Inspectors attached to the finance ministry are not happy with the 7th pay commission recommendations, however they are more furious that their voice has not been listened by their higher officials and by the empowered Committee of Secretaries as well. The agitated inspectors claim that since independence this will be the first time they will be drawing less salary than inspectors attached to other ministries, thanks to the 7th pay commission, they say.

Income Tax Slabs and Rates for FY 2015-16 and AY 2016-17

While there has been no change in the personal income tax slabs for the next financial year (FY 2016-17), the government has provided some other benefits:

1. Additional Rs. 50,000 per annum interest deduction for loans upto 35 lacs sanctioned in FY 2016-17 for first time buyers where house costs doesn't exceed 50 lacs.

2. Increase the limit of deduction of rent paid from Rs. 24,000 to Rs. 60,000.

3. Increasing the ceiling of tax rebate from Rs. 2.000 to Rs. 5,000 for individuals earning less than 5 lacs per annum

We are still studying the budget and will provide a detailed analysis in the coming days.

The following INCOME TAX RATES ARE applicable for the Financial Year ending March 31, 2016 (i.e. Financial Year 2015-16) - Assessment Year 2016-17)

Every year the income tax rates are changed and it is important to get the latest income tax rates. We give below the Income Tax Rates and Slabs applicable for the FY 2015-16 or AY 2016-17.   [As there was no change in Income Tax slabs for FY 2015-16 (i.e. AY 2016-17), the following rates were also applicable for FY 2014-15 (AY 2015-16)

Income Range	General (non-senior citizens) Category	Women (Below 60 years of age) (This category is abolished from this year and is thus is same as that of  General Category	Senior Citizens (Men and Women above 60 years of age), but below 80 years	Very Senior Citizens (Men and Women above 80 years of age)
Upto Rs. 2,50,000	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil
Rs. 2,50,001 to Rs. 3,00,000	10% *	10% *	Nil	Nil
Rs. 3,00,001 to Rs. 5,00,000	10% *	10% *	10% *	Nil
Rs. 5,00,001 to Rs. 10,00,000	20%	20%	20%	20%
Above Rs. 10,00,000	30% **	30% **	30% **	30%**

Who is Required to File Income Tax Return

 Who is Required to File Income Tax Return or When an Individual Has To File Income Tax Return :

In terms of Income Tax laws, in case you are an individual (other than a company or a firm) than you will have to file your return if your Gross Total Income before any deductions is more than the exemption limit.  [Deductions in this case will be the usual 80C to 80U deductions].  Thus, in simple terms we can say if your gross Total income is more that Rs.2,50,000 in FY 2014-15, you should file your income tax return by 31^st August 2015.  [Remember, this limit will be Rs3,00,000/- for individuals who have reached 60 years of age during the Financial Year or earlier.   Similarly, for very senior citizens this limit will be Rs5,00,000/- (those who are 80 years and above).

In addition to above, sometimes an individual is required or he / she  prefers to file an income tax return.   We are giving below some of such instances :-

• Sometimes some banks or  other organization may have deducted TDS on some income, as the individual failed to provide the details that he / she is not liable for any tax as his / her income is less than the taxable limit.   In such situations, if the individual wants to claim the TDS as income tax refund, he / she has to file income tax and claim refund.
• Similarly, in case the individual wishes to carry forward a loss under a head of income, though the gross income is less than the exemption limit, the individual has to file income tax return.
• Return filing is mandatory for those who are Resident individual but have an asset or financial interest in an entity located outside of India. (Not applicable to NRIs or RNORs).
• Or if you are a Resident and a signing authority in a foreign account. (Not applicable to NRIs or RNORs).
• Some times individuals prefer to file income tax return with taxabibility as Rs zero, as it provides them as a proof of  filing the tax as this is required at the time of applying for a loan or a visa.

(B) Are NRIs also required to file income tax return :

Yes all individuals, including NRIs whose income exceeds Rs.2,50,000 (for FY ending 31st March 2015) are required to file an income tax return in India. However, for NRIs income earned or accrued in India is only taxable in India.

(C ) Who are required to mandatory e-file income tax return?

Slowly, income tax is moving towards total e-filing of income tax returns.  However, at present in the following cases e-filing of income tax return is compulsory :

(a)    Your gross total income is more than Rs 5,00,000 OR

(b)   You have a claim to refund  (However, those who are over 80 years old and are filing ITR-1 or ITR-2 can still file a paper return to claim a refund)

(c)    In case you are required to file ITR-3, 4, 5, 6, 7

(D) What is amount of Penalty for non-filing an income tax return?

As per section 271F, the assessing officer can levy a penalty of Rs 5,000 in case you have failed to file your return by due date.

RRB New Notification Released 2016

RRB New Notification Released 2016
http://recruitmentvoice.com/rrb-new-notification-released-…/
Visit@ www.recruitmentvoice.com

List of bank mergers in India?

Banks Merged with Period 

United Western Bank IDBI Bank  Sep 2006

Lord Krishna Bank Centurion Bank Aug 2006 

Ganesh Bank of Kurundwad The Federal Bank -Jan-2006 

Bank of Punjab Centurion Bank -Sep -2005

IDBI Bank IDBI Limited -Apr 2005

Global Trust Bank Oriental Bank of -Jul  2004

Nedungadi Bank Bank of Punjab Nov 2002

Benares State Bank Bank of Baroda [ Get Quote ] Jun 2002

 ICICI Limited ICICI Bank [ Get Quote ] -Jan 2002

Bank of Madura ICICI Bank -Mar 2001

Times Bank HDFC Bank [ Get Quote ] Feb-00 

Sikkim Bank Union Bank Dec-99 

Bareilly Corporation Bank [ Get Quote ] Bank of Baroda Jun-99

MERGER OF BANK WILL START FROM SEPTEMBER =OCTOBER 2016

The government informs public sector banks that only six to 

seven large banks will remain in the long-run. One merger 

candidate will be identified by September-October this year, 

sources said.

Expert group on consolidation of public sector banks soon: Jaitley

The government will soon set up an expert group to look into consolidation of public sector banks as the country needs stronger rather than a large number of banks, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said here 

RBI asks banks to remain open for full day on March 30

The Reserve Bank  asked banks to keep their 

branches, which conduct government business, 

open for full day on March 30 and till 8 pm on 

March 31 to facilitate the transactions before

 annual closing of government accounts.

Cleaning banks' balance sheets to pave way for mergers: Raghuram Rajan

Asserting that some stressed loans have to be written down to improve the health of PSU banks, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan today said it will pave the way for mergers and help optimise their resources. 

"One very important contributor to macroeconomic stability is healthy banks. Banks in India have a number of stressed loans on their balance sheet," he said while delivering C D Deshmukh Lecture here. 
In some cases, the reality is that existing loans will have to be written down significantly because of the changed circumstances since they were sanctioned (which includes extensive project delays, cost overruns, global overcapacity, and overoptimistic demand projections)," he said. 

The gross NPAs of the public sector banks rose to 6.03 per cent as of June 2015, from 5.20 per cent in March 2015. 

If loans are written down, the promoter brings in more equity, and other stakeholders like the tariff authorities or the local government chip in, the project may have a strong chance of revival, and the promoter will be incentivized to try his utmost to put it back on track, he said. 

Cleaning of the balance sheet of the public sector banks (PSBs) will improve their financial health. 

"Finally, as bank health recovers, the issue of PSB mergers can be addressed. Almost surely, some banks will have to merge to optimise their use of resources," he said. 

"But talking of bank mergers, which take a lot of management attention, especially when each bank management is preoccupied with dealing with stressed assets, is probably premature," he said. 

At the same time, he said, some banks could benefit from governance help to deal with their current problems. 

Posing a question if it is an opportune time to induct skilled financial firms as strategic investors into public sector bank boards, perhaps with a 10 or 15 per cent stake, he said, "certainly, the experience of countries like China who inducted such investors is worth studying". 

Highlighting that a number of good banks have taken the necessary action to resolve stressed loans in a timely fashion, Rajan said, remaining banks need to take more proactive action in this regard. 

"Over the last few quarters, the RBI has expanded the tools banks have to recognise and deal with stressed loans. It is now working with the government and banks to ensure that the stressed assets are dealt with on a proactive basis, and that bank balance sheets both reflect a true and fair picture, and are adequately provisioned," he said. 

 

Regional factors may drive mergers of state-run banks ----/economictimes.

The government is keen on consolidation of state-run banks. One of the themes guiding this could be the regional strengths and weaknesses of the lenders. 

While the bigger ones could be the acquirers, ET looks at which are the merger candidates that could lead to stronger banks with presence across the country. The State Bank of India, with already a fifth of the industry market share along with its associates, may be directed to just absorb its associates and not go after others 
 

I-T Department wants you to declare all interest income in your ITR please read before file

In a circular released on Tuesday, the Central Board of Direct Taxes has warned the taxpayers who do not declare all their interest income in their ITRs to correct their ways. They have been asked to re-file and rectify their returns for FY 2013-14 onwards.

You'll have to declare even those interest incomes where Form 15 G/H have been filed and the total exceeds the maximum amount not chargeable to tax, that is, Rs 2.5 lakh. Only interest income up to Rs 10,000 exempted under Section10 may be left out. The deadline for this is 31st March 2016. If missed, you will be liable to pay a Rs 5,000 penalty under avoid penalty Section 271F of the I-T Act.

While form 26AS reflects only those payments on which tax has been deducted, the department can track your other deposits and interest payments received without deduction of tax too via information received from banks and other financial institutions. "Information regarding interest earned by individuals and business entities on term deposit is filed with the Income Tax Department by banks including co-operative banks and other financial institutions and state treasuries, etc," said the circular.

In an online survey conducted by economictimes.com last August, 30% of the 2,168 respondents believed that interest of up to Rs 10,000 from bank FDs is tax free in a year. However, as per the rules,the exemption under Section 80TTA is only for the interest on the savings bank accounts.What oneearns from on fixed deposits and recurring deposits is fully taxable. You also need to declare all those interest income where TDS has been deducted or you have filed Form 15 G/H.

 

DA hiked by 6%, to benefit 1 crore employees, pensioners

On the eve of Holi festival, the government today hiked dearness allowance (DA) by 6 per cent, benefiting over 1 crore central government employees and pensioners.

The hike, which will cost the exchequer an additional Rs 14,724.74 crore annually, will take effect from January 1, 2016, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters after the meeting of the Union Cabinet which took the decision.

The burden on exchequer would be Rs 6,795.5 core towards central government employees and Rs 7,929.24 crore towards pensioners during 2016-17, he said.

The DA, which will benefit, 50 lakh central government employees and 58 lakh pensioners, will go up from the existing 119 per cent to 125 per cent.

Dearness allowance is paid as a portion of basic pay of employees to neutralise the impact of inflation. Pensioners get dearness relief.

The central government revises DA twice in a year on the basis of one year average of retail inflation for industrial workers as per a pre-determined formula.

In September last year, DA was increased to 119 per cent from 113 per cent with effect from July 1, 2015.

In April last year, the government had hiked DA by 6 percentage points to 113 per cent of the basic pay with effect from January 1, 2015.

Bihar State Cooperative Bank Recruitment for 441 Assistant 2016

Bihar State Cooperative Bank invites applications for recruitment of Assistant. Bihar State Cooperative Bank is going to fill up 441 posts through this job notification.

Dates to Remember:

• Last Date For Receipt of Application          :28-Mar-2016

Number of Vacancies:

There are in total 441 vacancies

Eligibility Criteria:

• Educational Qualification: Candidates should possess Graduation Degree in any subject or equivalent from a recognised University with computer knowledge. For more details on how to apply, selection process, Application fees and other particulars go through notification.
• Age Limit: Should between 21-33 years of age as on 01-01-2016
• Age Relaxation: SC/ ST: 05 years

http://biharbank.bih.nic.in/assit.pdf

For full details like online apply procedure, age limit, challan /online payment fee information, Educational Qualification on Bihar State Cooperative Bank Recruitment 2016. Please visit above link.

HAPPY HOLY TO ALL MY FRIENDS

HAPPY HOLY TO ALL MY FRIENDS

9.39 Crore Jan Dhan Accounts Seeded With Aadhaar: Jayant Sinha

 As many as 9.39 crore Jan Dhan accounts have been seeded with Aadhaar, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said today. 

"Government is linking bank accounts with Aadhaar to accurately transfer benefits. 9.39 crore Jan Dhan accounts have been seeded with Aadhaar cards," Sinha tweeted. 

Aaadhaar, the unique identity number, is being used for transfer of LPG subsidy and some other government programmes. 

There are plans to transfer fertiliser subsidy through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) using Aadhaar. 

Last week, Parliament passed the Aadhaar Bill that aims at better targeting of subsidies through the Aadhaar unique identity number within hours of the Upper Housing returning it. 

The government considers the Aadhaar bill as a significant instrument for implementing its Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes for better targeting of beneficiaries but the Opposition attacked the government saying it was violating the Supreme Court direction that Aadhaar card cannot be made mandatory but should only be voluntary.

RBI To Cut Rates By 0.25% On April 5, 0.50% In FY17: Report

Reserve Bank is likely to go for a 50 basis points rate cut next fiscal year and out of this 25 bps cut may be affected in the policy review meet next month amid slackening economic recovery, says a report.

The financial services major said it estimated that old GDP growth slipped to 4.6 per cent in the December quarter, well below our calculated 7-7.5 per cent potential. Our lead industrial indicator is slipping as industrial production contracted for three consecutive months through January.

Declining inflation and negative industrial outlook have strengthened a case for RBI cutting interest rate in its first bi-monthly monetary policy for 2016-17 on April 5.

"We have raised our RBI rate cut forecast to 50 bps in FY17 from 25 bps earlier. We see 25 bps cuts on April 5 and in August. After all, the recovery is slackening," Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA-ML) said in a research note.

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan on February 2, left the key interest rate unchanged citing inflation risks and growth concerns.

According to the global brokerage major, the onus of recovery is now on the central bank, as the government has stuck to its fiscal roadmap.

"The onus of recovery is now on RBI, with Finance Minister Jaitley cutting his FY17 fiscal deficit target to 3.5 per cent of GDP, in line with the pre-committed fiscal path," the report said adding that small saving rate cuts should also help the monetary policy transmission.

The report, however, noted the scope for further RBI rate cuts is limited, as the repo rate, at 6.25 per cent, would be well below medium-term average 7 per cent CPI inflation.

Meanwhile, Rajan on March 12 said the government sticking to fiscal consolidation roadmap of reducing deficit to 3.5 per cent of the GDP in 2016-17 was comforting. On how that would feed into monetary policy, he had said "wait and see

Ambedkar Birthday (14th April) declared as central holiday throughout the country

It has been decided to declare Thursday, the 14th April 2016, as a Closed Holiday on account of the birthday of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, for all Central Government Offices including Industrial Establishments throughout India."

No SC/ST quotas for govt job promotions: Supreme Court

No SC/ST quotas for govt job promotions: Supreme Court 

The Supreme Court has ruled that scheduled caste (SC) and scheduled tribe (ST) members can not claim quota as a right in government job promotions. This move was taken while rejecting a PIL seeking direction to the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government to grant reservation in promotion.

In the landmark verdict, the apex court on March 11 said that the states were not constitutionally obliged to give preferential treatment to any community in promotion.

5,298 panchayats in Bihar don't have banks

: Prime Minister Narendra Modi always harps on financial inclusion by way of bank account for every individual and one bank branch in every panchayat, but there are 13 blocks in Bihar which do not have a branch of any commercial bank. Put differently, 5,298 panchayats out of 8,471 panchayats in the state don't have a bank branch.

Nationwide, there is one bank branch for a population of 11,000, but in case of Bihar the figure is one branch for 17,000 people.

In this backdrop, CM Nitish Kumar has asked the banks to expedite the process of setting up at least one branch in the 13 blocks at the earliest to meet the national guidelines for financial inclusion. There are 543 blocks in the state.

"I would request the bankers in the state to establish one branch in each block and make efforts to meet the national average of one branch for a population of 11,000," said Nitish the other day while interacting with the representatives of different banks at the State-Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) meeting.

The blocks without a bank branch are: Ismailpur (in Bhagalpur district), Kaisath (Buxar), Mohra (Gaya), Ramgarh (Lakhisarai), Ben and Tharthari (Nalanda), Mescore and Kashichak (Nawada), Banma Itahari (Saharsa), Shivajinagar (Samastipur), Panapur (Saran) and Bhitaha and Piprasi (West Champaran).

"If we take into account panchayats, then out of 8,471 panchayats only 3,173 panchayats have a branch of commercial bank. There are 5,298 panchayats where there is no branch," said an officer of the finance department.

Blaming the banks for their indifferent attitude towards achievement of the goal of financial inclusion for everyone, the officer said, "Now, the state government is working on a project for direct transfer of funds to panchayats. The CM has asked panchayati raj department and finance department to open an account for each panchayat and transfer funds from the headquarters for different schemes into them. If we don't have a bank branch at the panchayat level, how can we think of planning a transparent financial inclusion model for all in Bihar?"

To ensure the opening of at least one bank branch in each panchayat, Nitish has offered space at the panchayat sarkar bhavans. "The government has constructed 236 panchayat sarkar bhavans and banks can set up their branches there," said Nitish.

Govt expects no dividend from at least 9 PSU banks

NEW DELHI: The finance ministry has not budgeted for any dividends from at least nine public sector banks during the next fiscal, in what is being seen as an indication that the government expects the finances of several lenders to remain under stress even during 2016-17.

With rising bad debt that has pushed several banks into losses, just five banks -Andhra Bank, Canara Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, Union Bank and State Bank of India -are in line to pay dividends during the current financial year, a statement prepared by the finance ministry has revealed. In all cases, the payout will be much lower than what the government had originally budgeted for.

Against dividend payments of Rs 10,433 crore from banks, financial institutions and insurers in the budget estimates for 2015-16, the government has more than halved its projections to under Rs 5,100 crore in the revised estimates.Next fiscal, it expects a pickup with payout from these entities estimated to rise nearly 37% to Rs 6,974 crore.

Of this nearly a third or Rs 2,215 crore will come from LIC, the government's favourite cash cow, followed by State Bank of India (Rs 1,143 crore) and Bank of Baroda (Rs 501 crore).

The next fiscal will be the second year in a row when nine banks would not be making an annual payout to its shareholders, led by the government.This year, more than half of the 32 government-owned banks, FIs and insurance companies are not going to pay dividends.All these entities, barring IIFCL and Bharatiya Mahila Bank, were budgeted to shell out hefty dividends during the current fiscal. The next fiscal will be the second year in a row when nine banks would not be making an annual payout to its shareholders, led by the government. This year, more than half of the 32 government-owned banks, FIs and insurance companies are not going to pay dividends. All these entities, barring IIFCL and Bharatiya Mahila Bank, were budgeted to shell out hefty dividends during the current fiscal.RBI's insistence on classifying several loans, where repayments have been irregular, has driven several state run players including Bank  of Baroda, Bank of India, IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce into losses. Others such as SBI and PNB have reported a sharp fall in profits as theyset aside funds to cover for potential non-payment from several companies.

For long, analysts have argued that the government should seek lower dividends so that those earning profits can plough back a part of the funds to meet the capital requirements. The rise in bad debt and regulatory requirements has forced the government to provide more equity to public sector banks as the Centre has committed to maintain majority stake in these entities.

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