Brittas writes to SBI chairman, questions 'near zero vacancies' for Kerala in clerical recruitment

New Delhi: CPI(M) Rajya Sabha leader John Brittas on Monday urged State Bank of India (SBI) chairman Challa Sreenivasulu Setty to urgently review the decision to notify zero vacancies for Kerala in the 2026 recruitment of junior associates (customer support and sales).

The CPI(M) leader wrote to the SBI chairman on Monday and referred to its notification dated 11 August 2026, which announced 7,680 regular junior associate vacancies nationwide, but none for Kerala.

"This is particularly striking when viewed against the vacancies notified for Keralam in previous recruitment cycles - 247 in the preceding recruitment and 426 in the 2024 cycle. A reduction from 426 to 247 and thereafter to nil in the space of two recruitment cycles is not an ordinary fluctuation," Brittas said in the letter.

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SBI, IBPS vacancies shrink opportunities for Kerala youth: Brittas

He alleged that the contraction in Kerala is particularly significant because the national SBI vacancy pool has increased from 5,180 regular vacancies in the previous recruitment to 7,680 this year. "The concern is compounded by the concurrent IBPS Customer Service Associate recruitment, which has notified 11,403 vacancies nationwide, but only 108 for Keralam across 11 participating public-sector banks," he said.

Brittas called it a "substantial contraction" in recruitment opportunities available to candidates from Kerala under the "two principal channels of clerical recruitment in public-sector banking," saying it raises a legitimate concern about whether there has been a disproportionate reduction in opportunities available to the youth of the State.

With the application window closing on 31 August 2026, he urged the SBI chairman to intervene urgently. "If vacancies have been omitted or inadequately assessed, consider issuing a corrigendum or supplementary notification to ensure that eligible candidates in Kerala are not denied a fair opportunity in the current recruitment cycle," he said.