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

CPI Rajya Sabha leader John Brittas has written to State Bank of India Chairman Challa Sreenivasulu Setty, expressing concern over a near zero number of vacancies for Kerala candidates in the 2026 Junior Associates recruitment. Brittas pointed out the notification dated August 11, 2026, which had announced 7,680 regular vacancies across the country, but none for Kerala.

This stark reduction from 426 vacancies in the 2024 cycle to 247 in the previous one, and now to zero, is not a typical fluctuation, according to Brittas. He highlighted that while the national SBI vacancy pool has grown from 5,180 in the previous recruitment to 7,680 this year, the number of vacancies for Keralam has plummeted from 426 to 247, and now to zero.

This alarming trend is further exacerbated by the IBPS Customer Service Associate recruitment, which has notified 11,403 vacancies nationwide, but only 108 for Keralam across 11 public-sector banks. Brittas described this as a substantial contraction in recruitment opportunities for Kerala candidates, under the two main channels of clerical recruitment in public-sector banking.

With the application deadline for the current cycle on August 31, 2026, Brittas urged the SBI chairman to urgently intervene and consider issuing a corrigendum or supplementary notification to prevent eligible candidates in Kerala from being unfairly denied opportunities.