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 .

Untouchability - the HYPOCRISY & the DICHOTOMY

In yesterday's newspaper (25.05.2017) there were reports that in a village in Tumukur district a three day traditional village festival which is being conducted since ages was stopped abruptly in the beginning itself because dalit families entered the temple to offer Pooja to the diety. What is wrong in it?

Untouchability is in practice in this village. Dalits should not enter the temple to offer Pooja. They have to offer Pooja from outside of the temple. The flowers brought by the Dalits are not accepted. They have to buy flowers from the temple to offer to Pooja. Fruits and the coconut brought by them is washed before offering for Pooja. They are not supposed to offer Aarati for the diety. Even though the procession of the diety passes through the dalit colony, it never stops there to enable them perform pooja. Incensed by this practice of untouchability a few educated dalits entered the temple defying the embargo. And the villagers thought the temple was desecreted by the entry of the dalits and they stopped the three day village festival in the beginning itself.

In another village in Karnataka a similar incident happened a few days ago. A marriage was fixed in a dalit family. On the day of marriage the entire village was closed down. What is the meaning of closed down? The entire villagers left the village for the day locking down their houses, closing even hotels and tea shops. Their grouse was lot of dalits enter the village for marriage and the village gets desecrated.

And Yeddiyurappa a few days back made big news by visiting the house of a dalit and do the drama of having food in the house in the company of Shobha Karandlaje under the glare of clicking cameras. The food was brought from outside is the subject for discussion is another matter. Even H. D. Kumaraswamy has resorted to this kind of cheap and low publicity gimmicks in the past. Even Rahul Gandhi for that matter is not far behind.

The irony is when these two incidents of practice of untouchability is being practiced in the state and has hit the headlines of newspapers and TV, the leaders who enacted the drama of having food in a dalit's house are conspicuous by their silence. They never made a statement condemning this obnoxious practice. They never uttered a word.

Is it not hypocrisy? Is it not dichotomy? Is it not deceit? According to me it is a fraud. It is a fraud on the psyche of the poor and the gullible dalit community. It is commodification of the community for vote bank purposes. They should realize that nobody's hearts are warmed up by these kind of cheap histrionics.

I appeal to all the saner people in the upper caste bracket to oppose, condemn and criticise the practice of untouchability. It is required to keep a harmonious and healthy society. Only peace can foster progress. Strife, ill will and mistrust will only vitiate the communal harmony. There is an urgent need for this because then only the movement against the practice of untouchability gets some meaning. The affected class (Dalits) fighting untouchability is age old and it is nobody
's problem and will never receive the attention and importance in this caste-ridden society.

And one word for dalits. You have forgotten Dr. Ambedkar and therefore this kind of misery.

K.N.Krishnan.     9449612446

Digitisation and The Digital India :

Digitisation and The Digital India :

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar propounded that we cannot change the past by remaining in the past. We have to break away from the shackles of the past to change the future. By remaining in the status quo we cannot aspire for a change for the better. Dr. Ambedkar also in his thoughts asked - don't hesitate to adopt change, adapt to the change. Change is inevitable he said.

On 30th December 2016, in the 125th birth anniversary year of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, Government of India introduced an app called BHIM the pet name for all the diehard followers of Dr.Ambedkar. It's an important element of digitisation. Probably by naming it so Modi was nudging all of us more so people at the lower strata of society rather subtly than overtly to embrace this change.

Why we have to embrace this or rather participate in this abhiyan called digitisation? Digitisation is one of the ambitious projects that has the ability to cleanse the system which is rotten, stinking, corrupted and controlled by the vested interests. The people at the bottom of the pyramid are the worst hit by the system infested with cancer called corruption. The opponents of the project who are mainly the vested interests often shed crocodile tears for the downtrodden, projecting these gullible sections of the society as the victims to obfuscate their interests and to continue the status quo because it suits them to proliferate corruption. Let us not fall prey to these sham and false entreaties. So, I believe we as common men has more to do with digitisation.

Digitisation is a real game changer for the Indian economy. It encompasses the whole gamut of payments mechanism. It has the potential to revolutionize the way the businesses are conducted. It's a powerful tool to facilitate transactions smoothly and quickly. It is a great enabler of financial inclusion. It does not discriminate. It is not subjective. It can to a large extent avoid genesis of black money. It facilitates ease of doing business. Above all it is a low cost and easily accessible banking tool for the people who are at lower strata of society who otherwise many times don't have the access to the regular banking channels. Even if they do have, the bank charges are too prohibitive. It reduces cost and increases convenience. It's a low hanging fruit especially for the lower strata of society. Digital banking has the reach and ability to touch the lives of last person in the last mile. It also gives a push towards cashless or less cash economy. I am sure you will agree that greater the degree of movement towards cashless economy, lesser will be the possibility of occurrence of corruption and therefore the generation of black money. It is therefore all the more important for the people at the lower strata of society to embrace this innovative tool called digitalisation because we are the most benefitted lot because it is low cost and it is easily accessible.

Digitisation liberates an individual. Not only that it gives freedom in your palm and empowers you. If you have smartphone with Internet, you have the whole world in your fingertips. This is the most redeeming factor one should not lost sight of. Leverage this powerful tool to liberate yourselves.

We as citizens have a duty and responsibility to carry forward this abhiyan with all the sincerity zeal and commitment. The task of changing something and improving something cannot be solely left at the hands of the government. Whatever may be the sincere efforts of the government to improve the matters, it will not met with the desired success unless people, citizens who are the beneficiaries and stakeholders do not participate in the change process. It takes two to tango. Therefore let us all participate and involve fully in this exercise because at the end of the day it benefits us.

Let us go digital.

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

Silence amidst the storm.

The knives are out once again. The state BJP is in for a public showdown. BS Yeddiyurappa, the party president and KS Eshwarappa, leader of opposition in the legislative council are at draggers drawn. They are fighting like cats and dogs. KS Eshwarappa is performing as a leader of the opposition to his own party. The Sangolli Rayanna brigade is the bone of contention. The Sangolli Rayanna brigade is proving albatross around the neck for Eshwarappa. The acrimony between the two leaders is too well-known. It even warranted the intervention of the party high command in the past to buy peace. This has not worked either.

But this time the animosity between them has crossed the boundaries of discipline in the party and they are flexing their muscles quite openly and to the amusement of all. This has made the opposition - Congress and JD (U) to rub hands in glee. And they are waiting in the wings to grab the spoils of this stand off in the assembly election which is staring at them just next year.

This stand off that too quite openly could have been avoided. This is causing lot of embarrassment to the cadres. It saps their motivation and zeal to work for the party. What is most intriguing and bizarre in this sordid drama is, the silence of the BJP high command. Why is it allowing this spectacle to continue?  Is it beyond its power and authority? No. It is definitely not beyond Modi-Shah might to rein in the warring leaders. There must be a method in the madness of this silence.

BJP high command is perhaps doing a very delicate balancing act. It doesn't want to be seen as in support of either leader. It therefore has rapped on the knuckles of both the leaders by divesting the responsibilities of two followers each from their groups. It has left the leaders untouched probably fearing the numbers of the communities they represent. At this point it doesn't want to rub them on the wrong side. It is also not a secret anymore in the party that national joint secretary (orgn) Mr. B L Santhosh is fomenting trouble between the two leaders in the hope that he may be anointed to the top job if the party comes to power in the next election. He has started his game well in advance.

Whatever may be the scenario, the silence of the high command so far, amidst this storm has baffled many in their own party. There may be a dark horse. Another Yogi from RSS stable may spring up. But, whatever may be the game plan of the high command, this fight between the two leaders will going to dent the party. And the assembly election in the state is exactly a year away. Memory by then may be still fresh in the minds of the people. This washing the dirty linen in public may prove too costly for a party hoping for a comeback in the state.

K.N.Krishnan.       94496 12446

Wage revision - could it be the last one on industry level?

IBA has finally called the constituents of UFBU for a first/formal meeting on wage negotiations on 2nd May 2017. This has has happened after a series of communications to the banks and trade unions urging them to take up the matter in right earnest. Government was more eager and enthusiastic than the associations and the unions to finish the wage revision exercise. It sounds rather strange. Never in the history of banking wage negotiations that government was proactive, forthcoming and so much interested to finish the job.

This should rise the eyebrows of the trade unions and the members alike. This gives rise to a kind of apprehension as to what could be in store for them and why the government is so much interested in early settlement. There is a kind of uneasiness in the trade union circles about the urgency of the government. Is there a method in this madness? Only time will answer. Is there a sting in the tail?. All needs to be watched.

Yes. There must be a method in this madness. The recent circular in SBI which talks about fixed and variable pay for Scale IV and above is a pointer to the things that are in store in the wage settlement. By this one circular, it appears, if the government/IBA has achieved a clear and vertical division in the membership ie., one group upto scale III and another group scale IV and above. Since their interests are divided, it may become difficult for the trade unions to bring both the blocks under one umbrella for agitational action if at all they contemplate and act upon when need arises. There may be more surprises and shocks in the bag. Here, how well trade unions post merger, will act as a cohesive, consolidated and a united block assumes importance and will have a bearing on the wage revision.

The process of merger in SBI has just begun and it may take considerably long time to settle down. And there is a talk of taking up some more banks to be merged among themselves. In all probability the government will achieve its stated goal of having 5-6 large banks instead of many small banks in a few years from now. Once it achieve this goal, government may embark upon a more lethal, dangerous and difficult to imagine move of bringing down its stake below 50% ie., PRIVITISATION which we all abhor. This could be the last nail in the coffin.

The introduction of the variable pay, monetization of perks and allowances are all directed to move towards the concept called CTC (cost to company) which is in vogue in private companies and banks. The only ray of hope is - will the government let go of advantage of such a huge, well networked and powerful pan India instrument called State Bank to implement its schemes by privatization. This is the only silver lining for State Bank of India.

All these thoughts are only on imagination and not on the basis of any evidence or facts. It's assessed on the basis of the way things are happening and one action necessarily leads to a next step.

K.N.Krishnan,    94496 12446

Merger happened - what next?

Whether we like it or not merger has happened. There is no point in discussing its adverse effects. We have got to focus on only the positives.

In any acquisition, merger or integration the success of it depends largely on how best, how quickly and how seamlessly the HR amalgamates.

Once this is a smooth process, managing other things like doing business, achieving targets should not be insurmountable.

Therefore, the need of the hour is a painless transition and quick assimilation, understanding and constant improvisation of each other's work ethos.

Towards this end what we can do/contribute.

1. Accord the colleagues from our associates banks a genuinely warm welcome and accept them as our own and, not as someone who has come seeking shelter or asylum. They have not sought this merger either. It was thrust upon us.

2. They would have suffered an identity loss all of a sudden and may be undergoing some emotional moments. They may be feeling a sense that they have lost somewhere. They may be having apprehensions /reservations about what may be in store for them. It is here that our responsibility/behavior comes into focus.

3. The first thing we have to do is to remove the perception that is prevalent in our minds that they are of inferior stuff. It is subjective and debatable. Neither we are foolproof. Even if it were to be a fact, there is no point in beating the dead horse. Now everything is water under the bridge.

4. Lot of talking/defreezing is required at each point of contact with our incoming colleagues right from the messenger to MD.

5. The first and the foremost thing is to make them feel at home. A feeling of bonhomie should prevail. We should never ever at any point of time send a signal / indication that they are being slighted/sidelined/neglected. Because they are already in a disturbed state of mind and may be apprehensive of things.

6. We should tell them that if they have lost something which they were the part of for many years and decades, they have lost for getting something even better.

We should tell them that they are joining an organization which has an illustrious pedigree, a glorious past and a bright future. The brand value of State Bank in the market and the concomitant esteem it brings to the employees should be highlighted to them.

7. We should also tell them/sell them advantages of being a State Banker and any monetary/pecuniary benefits that may accrue to them.

8. HR department has a onerous task of managing this churn and to see that the dust settles down quickly and people get into brass tacks soon. They have to do lot of talking and explaining if necessary at the time of transfers to suspend the impression of second rate treatment if at all they are nursing the same.

9. Organisations viz SBIOAK, SBSU and SEWA can also complement the efforts of the Bank in this onerous task. Bank may rope in these organizations and send them on errands making teams comprising of representatives of all the three organizations. They should act as Ambassadors of merger.

10. Anybody involving in the above exercise will be according to me is doing a great service to the bank. Because this is the most crucial period, a period of confusion and chaos if handled with maturity and statesmanship will go a long way in building a strong State Bank.

I wish, it is a smooth and seamless transition for this great institution.

K.N.Krishnan.   9449612446