Bhubaneswar, July 1 -- The Orissa High Court has directed the State Bank of India (SBI) to pay Rs 20 lakh each to two daily-wage sweepers who lost their jobs after serving the bank for nearly three decades.

Rejecting SBI's offer of Rs 5 lakh each, the court observed that the workers had spent the prime of their lives in manual labour and Rs 5 lakh will be too little and were unlikely to secure alternative employment, especially "in the AI era."

According to a report by The Indian Express, a division bench of Justices Krishna S. Dixit and Chittaranjan Dash said the workers had given their "sweat and blood" to the bank. However, instead of ordering their regularisation, the court awarded a total compensation of Rs 40 lakh, which is to be ...