The Visually Impaired Bank Employees Welfare Association (VIBEWA) has, on behalf of more than 500 visually impaired and other categories of disabled employees in IDBI Bank, conveyed apprehensions to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman about job and service conditions in the bank post-strategic divestment.

In a letter addressed to the Minister, Himanshu Sahu, General Secretary, and Rajesh Asudani, President, VIBEWA, aired fears over continuity of service; preservation of statutory protections; and safeguarding of reasonable accommodation mechanisms presently available under public sector governance. Sahu is a Senior Manager with Indian Bank in Kolkata and Asudani, an Assistant General Manager, RBI, Nagpur.

National precedent

The manner in which divestment addresses disability safeguards will set a national precedent. Public sector banks have historically been pioneers in inclusive employment. Any perceived dilution of protection during privatisation could create insecurity across the banking sector for thousands of employees with disabilities. 

The Centre has consistently upheld dignity and empowerment of Divyangjan. “We humbly seek your intervention to ensure this commitment remains intact during restructuring process. We request an opportunity for formal dialogue with Department of Financial Services to place detailed submissions,” the letter said.  

Welfare legislation

The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPwD Act) is a welfare legislation enacted to ensure equality, dignity, and non-discrimination in employment. Section 20 of the Act categorically prohibits discrimination and protects employees with disabilities from reduction in rank or arbitrary termination on account of disability. 

“We respectfully submit that divestment or transfer of majority shareholding cannot dilute these statutory obligations,” the letter said. Any Transfer of Undertaking agreement must explicitly incorporate binding clauses protecting continuity of service; preservation of pay and allowances; pensionary and terminal benefits; and existing reasonable accommodation mechanisms, it added.

Absolute job security  

Visually impaired and other disability employees have served the institution with distinction in roles ranging from branch operations to credit, risk management, audit, and IT. Many have acquired professional qualifications such as CAIIB and have demonstrated measurable performance.

“We humbly request that the Government ensure that no retrenchment, forced resignation, or adverse restructuring impacts visually impaired employees. Contractual and probationary PwD employees must be granted protection, considering their vulnerability during ownership transition.”

Protection of wages 

Privatisation often leads to restructuring of pay architecture. The VIBEWA sought assurances that existing pay scales will not be altered to detriment of divyangjan employees.

Special conveyance allowance and disability-related benefits should remain intact. Pension and gratuity structures must be preserved. A formal “No-Loss and No-Reduction Clause” should be incorporated specifically for employees with benchmark disabilities.

Digital ecosystem 

Banking is increasingly technology-driven. Visually impaired employees depend upon accessible digital platforms compatible with screen readers such as JAWS and NVDA. The VIBEWA urged that all future banking software and digital platforms comply with accessibility standards.

Assistive technology support must stay uninterrupted. Accessibility compliance must be made a binding obligation on incoming management.

Transition oversight 

To ensure transparency and fairness, the letter requested that a representative from VIBEWA or a disability rights expert be included in any HR transition or restructuring committee overseeing post-divestment policy changes. This will prevent inadvertent policy shifts that may adversely affect employees with disabilities. 

Published on March 6, 2026

Mumbai-based geospatial firm Genesys International Corporation Ltd on Friday launched what it described as India’s first advanced Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) system from Italian technology company IDS GeoRadar, aimed at 3D mapping of underground utilities.

The system uses patented Equalised Scrambling Technology (EST) and Wide/Multi Array Antenna Technology to detect and map buried infrastructure — including water pipelines, sewer networks, telecom cables, and power lines — through high-resolution 3D sub-surface imaging.

Genesys said it will integrate the GPR technology with its existing digital mapping and 3D geospatial platforms to build subsurface digital twins of urban environments, allowing cities to visualise and manage underground assets.

The company said the technology is targeted at smart city projects, metro and highway construction, water infrastructure upgrades, and large-scale utility modernisation programmes across India. It claims the system can reduce excavation-related damage to existing infrastructure and minimise project delays.

Chairman and Managing Director, Sajid Malik, said the launch was aimed at addressing a critical gap in sub-surface mapping, particularly for water infrastructure networks that he described as “often buried and poorly mapped.”

Genesys International is listed on Indian stock exchanges and specialises in high-accuracy mapping, 3D city modelling, and enterprise spatial platforms for government and enterprise clients.

The shares of Genesys International Corporation were trading at ₹283.15, up by ₹11.45 or 4.21 per cent, on the NSE today at 1.15 pm.

Published on March 6, 2026

The Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG) has directed all the refiners to prioritise the utilisation of Propane and Butane streams for production of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as the closure of Strait of Hormuz skews India’s imports of the key cooking fuel.

The Ministry in an order on Thursday said that LPG is an essential domestic fuel used by households for cooking across the country and uninterrupted supply is necessary in public interest, sources said.

Regular supplies of LPG are important for India as the country does not have strategic reserves for the key cooking fuel. Around 90 per cent of LPG is consumed in households for cooking. India has around 33.08 crore active domestic consumers, which includes around 10.51 crore beneficiaries under the PM Ujjwala Yojna (PMUY).

West Asia accounts for 85-90 per cent of India’s LPG imports with most cargoes transiting the 34 km-long world’s most critical energy chokepoint.

As per Vortexa, the Middle East Gulf (MEG), excluding Iran, is India’s largest supplier of LPG, covering 92 per cent (around 720,000 barrels per day) of the country’s imports as of 2025.

sources said that in the Thursday order, the Ministry said that all oil refining companies operating in India shall maximise and ensure that Propane and Butane streams produced, recovered, fractionated or otherwise available with them are utilized for production of LPG and make it available to the three Public sector OMCs viz.IOCL, HPCL and BPCL only.

All oil refining companies shall not divert, utilise, process, crack, convert or otherwise employ Propane or Butane streams for manufacture of petrochemical products or other such downstream derivatives. All Public sector OMCs shall ensure that LPG so procured is supplied/marketed solely to consumers of domestic LPG only, it added.

Any contravention of this Order shall attract action under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and the Petroleum Products (Maintenance of Production, Storage and Supply) order, 1999, and any other applicable law for the time being in force, the order added.

Published on March 6, 2026