A political master stroke.

The Modi-Shah combine has done it again. After springing a surprise in the aftermath of UP elections by bringing a dark horse as Chief minister in Adityanath Yogi, the duo has repeated the same this time by nominating Ramnath Kovind who is a dalit as presidential candidate. This kind of decision which has national importance and has huge stakes for BJP would not have been taken without the green signal from RSS. There was an urgent need for BJP to shed its upper caste image which it has been identified with, with most of its leaders belonging to upper crust. At the same time there was need for it also to acquire a pro dalit image in the wake of Saharanpur atrocities on dalits and misdemeanors of over enthusiastic new crop of cow vigilante brigades. A makeover was required for BJP towards a pro dalit leaning with next big parliamentary election in 2019 in mind.

Be that as it may, the decision to nominate Ramnath Kovind is a master stroke. It is a great balancing act of the toughest order simply because, the two polar opposites of the ideological divide ie., the RSS and the dalit community have been appeased simultaneously. It is a well thought of idea. It has killed two birds in a single stone. It has caught the opposition completely unawares. It has made the opposition look like a rabbit in the headlights. The opposition is completely  clueless by this coup. It has sent the opposition coalition that was getting shape with the initiative of Sonia Gandhi into tatters. It has killed the coalition before it is born with Nitesh Kumar switching over to NDA. The rise of Modi like a Phoenix in Indian political arena is proving too much for the entire opposition. No one knows which tune this pied piper plays and when.

The narrative of this development is solely revolving around the caste which Ramnath Kovind belongs to. The other attributes of him like his vast experience as Supreme Court lawyer, his knowledge of the constitution, his personal integrity, his gubernatorial experience and his noncontroversial persona are not at all highlighted. This is not a good augury. The positive and strong attributes of a person who is going to occupy the highest constitutional position of the land should be the subject for discourse and not the caste to which he belongs. This proves that caste is an inevitable and ugly factor in Indian politics.

Now that BJP has hijacked the most wanted thing, it should not be content with mere tokenism. Politics of tokenism has run its full course. The dalits want something concrete and long-lasting contribution to the community than symbolic gestures which are ephemeral and will soon be forgotten. It has to cease the opportunity to prove to the world that it has better secular credentials.

Will Modi, the magician produce the result and not just the trick?

K N Krishnan.      94496 12446
Vice-president,
SEWA, Bangalore

The merger pangs.

The merger which was perceived rather apprehensively by all has happened. Now it is time to get down to brass tacks. Merger was nobody's choice neither anyone wished for it. It's a fait accompli. The immediate effect of merger is there for all to see. The bank which has an illustrious pedigree, which has an impeccable and most enviable record of making profit year after year continuously for more than two centuries has now suddenly incurred loss despite making a profit of five digits in crores in standalone basis. All the associate banks have posted losses thus bringing down the formidable banking giant to its knees. For a State Banker it is too much to digest and accept. An institution which was so assiduously built, nurtured and made to go from strength to strength by generations of dedicated employees is now stands emaciated, weak and poor. No doubt it has strong foundation, brand and mammoth size, but the same size if not handled deftly and efficiently may well prove to be a burden.

The degree of success of merger is most crucially hinged on how best we manage this size. The size and scale of geographies & business is the most challenging task staring at the face immediately. And of course the burgeoning NPAs is another major challenge for the bank which is not fully within the realms of the Bank. Because they are sometimes predicated by the external conditions of market, economy and government policies.

Left to State Bank itself, it was grappling with mounting and uncontrollable NPAs. Merger has rubbed salt into the wounds. It has made the situation worst. The success of the merger again at the cost of repetition will all depend how quickly and how deftly we come out of the morass and start leveraging the so called synergies and scale.

Seamless HR integration is another daunting task. Murmur less, noiseless and open acceptance of HR integration and striving for continuous improvement is another area of top priority for the bank.

The Best way of approach is to merge as many number of branches as possible, at the same time not to open further new branches. With the improved staff position of the merger of the branches,the bank can exercise better control over the operations. We are for a very long time managing with staff just enough for survival or even less. Many times we are managing on deputations thus living in Rob Peter to pay Paul syndrome. Post merger this kind of ham handed approach will going to be risky and hazardous.

With the disruptive technology that is being adopted almost on an ongoing basis and which has become the essential and integral part of of banking, recruiting new and young tech-savvy blood which can handle technological tools effortlessly and with ease may become expedient. Offering VRS for those at the fag end of their career may thus make sense. This will improve the age profile and also make economic sense.

Just my stray thoughts.

K.N.Krishnan    94496 12446 .