Caste bias in public sector banks top posts, says Madurai MP Su Venkatesan

CHENNAI: CPM’s Member of Parliament from Madurai, Su Venkatesan, has expressed concern over the lack of representation of Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), minorities, and women in the leadership of public sector banks and insurance companies.

Citing a reply received in Parliament from Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, to a question he had raised, Venkatesan wrote on social media that the data was ‘shocking’ and revealed a deeply entrenched exclusion.

According to the response, none of the nine serving chairpersons or managing directors of nationalised banks belong to the SC, ST, minority, or women categories. The trend continued in the board composition of these banks as well: of the 98 board members, only six are from the SC category, one each from the ST and minority categories, and just 12 are women.

In the board of the LIC, of the 13 members, there are no representatives from SC or minority communities, one from ST, and only one woman. The chairperson of LIC, too, does not belong to any of these categories.

Similarly, in public sector general insurance companies, of the 48 directors, only five are from the SC category, none from ST or minority communities, and 18 are women. Among the six top executives of these companies, just one is from the SC category, and three are women. None are from the ST or minority communities.

Venkatesan remarked that this lack of representation reflects not merely statistical gaps but systemic caste and gender discrimination. He called for urgent corrective measures to ensure that leadership in public financial institutions reflects the country's social diversity.