Sir, I rise to support the Bill brought forward by the Hon. Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Finance. Banking is a service of vital importance of industry, commerce and agriculture. It is concerned with the creation of credit money and its distribution between various users such as industry and agriculture or between institution and individuals. In fact the smooth working of a modern economy depends on the proper regualtion of credit with which the banks are concerned. The question, therefore, of recruitment of the personnel of banking institutions assumes great importance. The Banking Commission has recommended the establishment of such a Commission in its Report in 1972. In fact, Government have been rather late in bringing forward this very important and necessary piece of legislation. Before nationalisation, some of the big commercial banks had made some arrangements of their own for retirement of their staff. The institute of Bank Management and the Reserve Bank of India through the Bankers' Training College run some short-term and long-term courses for recruitment and training of bank staff. But these arrangements are not adequate even to meet the requirements for recruitment of higher cadres. The largest porpotion of banks staff consists of clerks and cashiers. The recruitment policies followed by most of the Indian banks before nationalisation were not based on either scientific lines. In several cases even minimum qualifications were not insisted upon. The Banking Commission has reported that in many cases people who had not even passed matriculation examination were recruited as clerks. There was no proper evaluation of the aptitude or capacity and very often caste and relationship determined the choice of candidates. Lack of training facilities however, aggravated the problem and banks found themselves with staff which had neither aptitude nor ability to carry out the jobs assigned to them.The Bill, therefore, is welcome. It seeks to provide for proper methods of selection for recruitment. It provides for the establishment of a body corporate to be called the Banking Service Commission. It shall be the duty of the Commission to hold competitive examinations to recruit people for clerical and allied cadres, junior officers cadre and such other officers' cadre as the Central Government may by notification, specify. It shall consist of a Chairman and persons who in the view of the government are men of integrity, ability and have experience of finance and business administration. The Bill rightly attaches great importance to selection of people for the clerical cadre because the clerical staff constitute the largest proportion of the total manpower and it is they who give the banking service to the people. Rapid expansion of banking ensures further that many of them will soon get promotion to the officers' cadre. It has been estimated that every clerk can hope to reach the officers' cadre 10 or 12 years time. Every clerk is therefore, a potential officer. But to be effective, recruitment should attempt to attract appropriate skills and attitude and search for suitable talent should not be restricted to the first point of entry in the bank at the clerical level. It should so be extended to attract sufficient number of persons who possess executive skill. With the functional enlargment of the banks, they require the service of experts, such as agricultural scientists and those who are experts in engineering. Recruitment of such personnel should also be considered by the Banking Commission. A provision in the Bill enables the Government to increase the proportion of such junior staff from 25 per cent to 33 per cent. In my view it is a welcome provision.There is a provision that a certain percentage shall be reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. This percentage has to be determined according to the general principles and also the requirements of the banks. One provision says that the Commission will have certain advisory functions. It is an important provision. We know how in Government services very difficult problems of promotion and seniority arise. It is better that they are solved by a third body rather than the superior officers who have sometimes prejudices against people working under them. I hope this provision will be used for that purpose.I will not take any more time of the House by dilating on the details of the Bill. I hope the Hon. Members will accept the basic idea behind the Bill. The establishment of a Commission on the lines envisaged will impart objectivity and impartiality in the recruitment procedures of the banks by prescribing uniform qualifications and eligibilty standards applicable in all public sector banks and thereby help to tap the right type of persons for the banking industry. Finally, there is a last clause which says that the Government may extend the provisions of this Bill to other banks. If the Banking Services Commission could cover the recruitment of other commercial banks also, so much the better. We will have uniform standards for recruitment of personnel in all the banks. With these words, I support the Bill. Submit