Kolkata, April 17 (IANS): Some 1,000 contractual workers have recently been retrenched from various public and private banks in West Bengal in the name of e-governance and e-surveillance, bank unions said on Monday.

"About 1,000 contractual workers, security guards, in particular, were retrenched from the ATMs and branches of different public and private sector banks in recent times. If the process continues, a few thousand will be thrown onto the streets within a couple of months," said Biswajit Ghosh, General Secretary of Bank Contractual and Contract Workmen Union (West Bengal), which is affiliated to Bank Employees Federation of India's (BEFI) state unit.

He said such moves were taken in the name of "e-governance and e-surveillance". 

The retrenchment decision of the banks' management along with the government is disastrous for the security of the customers in ATMs and other branches, Ghosh said.

The union has planned to organise massive rallies of such workmen along with their family members in the city on Tuesday and Thursday. 

Bank unions also alleged that minimum wages were denied to them as they are getting salary of 18 days even though they worked for 30 days. 

"The workers working for many years from morning till late night in the cash management services of various banks are denied of central government notified minimum wages. Provident fund and ESI are not deposited to competent authority," BEFI's General Secretary Joydeb Dasgupta told reporters here. 

"All ATMs of public sector banks are being handed over to private corporates, which is a first step towards privatisation," he added.