I don't want to get into the the nitty-gritty of the PNB episode. That is for the banking pandits, Supervisor such as RBI, CVC, Finance ministry etc to do the post mortem (what else they can do). Every thing is now water under the bridge.
What is more damaging and disturbing than the loss of the money which is involved in the fraud is the loss of credibility, the trust and the integrity of the bankers. The money can be retrieved but the loss of image in the eyes of the public is very hard to regain. The kind of cartoons, the kind of jokes that are flying thick and fast in social media makes a banker crestfallen, sullied and apologetic. Today's newspaper reports indicting the bank's officials of connivance with the perpetrators of the fraud for a paltry commission is an indication of the levels to which the integrity of a banker has slid, the surveillance weak and the vigilance slack.
This raises doubts if there is any nexus between the top brass of the bank and the fraudster who has connections to the who is who of the politicians in power. At present and untill now they have found a scapegoat in a lowest grade officer. The amount involved is so astronomical that it can wipeout the institution itself if not recovered in good time. With what the Mallya saga, the huge NPA's story hitting the headlines regularly and people after taking huge loans leaving the county for safe heavens thus leaving the lenders high and dry and to fend for themselves, the banking environment has become increasingly hazarduous and repulsive. Citizens who used to respect the bankers have started to suspect.
We are in such an unenviable profession that - "We are damned if we don't give, we are damned if we give"
The esteem of the banking profession has taken a severe dent. All our contributions in nation building exercise, economic growth of the country and gigantic efforts at social inclusiveness have gone for a toss. Only the negative vibes created by a few unscrupulous bankers will remain in the memory of the public - after all human mind is wired to attract negative things fast.
K N Krishnan.
Sir, excellently put. The plight of a banker today is so pathetic that his job is a hazard to his health his family life and career.
ReplyDeleteThanks Gayathri for your comments.
ReplyDeleteGood thought
ReplyDeleteAgree with every word you said. And very succinctly put.
ReplyDeleteAdmittedly, it is shocking and mind-boggling.The Systemic failure in this, spread over several years as it was, is even more shocking than lack of integrity on the part of a few black sheep, that are bound to be there in any walk of life/sector.
However, this is about the immediate impact on the Bank and on the trust in the Bankers.
I had the privilege of listening to a session in a seminar recently by Prof.Charan Singh of IIM, Bangalore on "Financial Infrastructure, Banking & NPAs and their impact on Public, Private & Govt. Sectors".
Imagine, he started by saying he began his career with PNB! He did his doctorate, got into RBI and then World Bank.
He boldly said he still has an account with PNB and that it is a VERY GOOD BANK! He went on to say that ALL PSBs are doing an EXCELLENT JOB and that we need to be proud of them. And then he said we would see as we progress into the Session.
And Vow! What a Session it was! Apart from covering the Financial Infrastructure in terms of Financial Policy instruments, Monetary Policy instruments and Financial Institutions, he brought out with cold data and graphs as to how the PSBs had contributed to the rural economy, bringing down the role of money lenders drastically, which Private & Foreign Banks don't do, how frauds in Indian Banking are nowhere near what has happened in US & Europe & Developed countries, how NPAs are neither maximum now nor are other countries better, and if Indian Private Banks have less NPAs currently, it is only because only/mainly PSBs contributed to Mining, Iron & Steel, Infrastructure and other high risk sectors of the economy, so necessary for growth.
He also gave figures of total Dividend and Tax paid by the PSBs to the Govt vis-a-vis the other Banks, Private and Foreign, and concluded by saying - We Indians should, therefore, be proud of our Public Sector Banks!
And, if at all there are some black sheep, remember, you have to recruit from the society only! If the values of the society itself are declining, then Banks cannot be islands by themselves.
He quoted a funny example too. If a child gets 95% and another gets 97%, the parents ask of the child why, and he replies, that's because the other child gave a present to the teacher. The response of the parents these days is "You too should have given a present"!
So, don't expect the good things all the time when societal values have been corrupted so much.
Hope this puts things in perspective. So, even if we are not proud of ourselves, we need not be totally ashamed of ourselves or become despondent. Cheer up!
E.Raveendra
Beautiful well thought out speech, general trend that becoming rich is the ultimate goal of life is what the youngsters emulate. Due to handful of bankers involved, the whole banking system is taking a beating. Very sad
DeleteThanks for your elaborate comments and giving a new Vista to the subject. It is really heartning to see a silver line in an otherwise gloomy situation. You are capable of writing your own blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your time and thoughts
Mr. E Ravindra was in stc Dharwad in 2003. His approach to teaching with variety and entertainment is still green in my eyes.
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