ARIYALUR: The senior branch manager of a nationalised bank in Gangaikondacholapuram in Ariyalur district was transferred to the bank’s regional office in Tiruchy on Tuesday after a retired government doctor alleged the manager had refused him a loan for not knowing Hindi.
The doctor had issued a legal notice to the manager seeking a compensation of Rs 1 lakh.
The manager, Vishal Narayan Kamble, and the bank faced a serious backlash with political parties, including the DMK and PMK, condemning Kamble’s alleged actions.
Following this, on Tuesday, the Trichy branch chief manager of the nationalised bank ordered that senior manager Vishal Narayan Kamble be transferred to the Trichy regional office.
Sources at the bank said that Kamble would not have to communicate directly with customers in his new position in Tiruchy and, therefore, would not need to know Tamil.
The doctor, 76-year-old C Balasubramanian from Jayankondam in Ariyalur, who raised the complaint said he had met Kamble seeking a loan to build a commercial complex on his land in Jayankondam.
Balasubramanian has had an account at the bank since 2002. According to the doctor, the manager and he argued after Kamble, a Maharashtrian, asked if he knew Hindi and the doctor said he didn’t.
The doctor alleged that the manager refused him a loan because he did not know Hindi and sent a legal notice to Kamble through an advocate.
In the notice, the doctor sought compensation of Rs 1 lakh for the alleged mental distress caused and claimed the refusal of a loan on the basis of not knowing Hindi could be considered deficiency of service.