The disenchantment

A few months back, I got an anonymous call. The person at the other end enquired me about how much salary a four years senior clerk in your Bank would draw. I asked why?  He told me that a marriage proposal has come from a boy who is working in your Bank. When I gave the information he wanted, he exclaimed! Sir, only that much? I thought it must be much more.

I just would like to juxtapose this with the statistics thrown out by the recently held clerical examination held in Bangalore. The attendance at the exam tells the story better than the words. The attendance for the first stage of examination is 40%. This is woefully low. This perhaps is the lowest so far in the history of banking recruitment. What could be the the reason / reasons for this abysmally low turnout? Is it on account of abundant job opportunities outside banking? I don't think so. The job opportunitiy outside also is not rosy either. Notwithstanding not a robust  job opportunity outside, the poor response to our banking examination is a pointer to the grim realities in the banking businesses.

Banking industry is in the news constantly for all the wrong reasons. Issues like, huge NPAs, frauds and resultant losses would have taken the sheen off from banking job. While this is the story for outsiders, the story for the insiders (staff) is no better either. The bank is grappling with acute shortage of staff. Post merger, it was thought that the problem would ease. But unfortunately it has aggravated further putting the staff under tremendous pressure. As if adding salt to the wound is frequent transfers. On top of this is not so attractive salary package viz., the other PSU counterparts. Even the state government employees draw better emoluments in similar positions, let alone PSU counterparts. All these factors would have adversely affected the psyche of the prospective candidates to take up the banking recruitment test. The poor turnout for the examination is perhaps reflective of the DISENCHANTMENT of the people about bank job which is not a positive sign. If concrete and concerted efforts are not put in place to reverse this negative perception about Bank jobs, it will be dissastrous. After all, the all important assets of a financial institution is its live assets called its employees. If these live assets are demotivated and frustrated, then the handling of dead stock assets by this human assets will not be appropriate. The result of this is left to one's imagination. Because, it is the employees who carry forward any organization.

K N Krishnan.

NPAs and Frauds - the double whammy for Banks

A couple of days back, a what's app message and a video clip was going viral among the employees of banks. It is reportedly of an assault by the son of a woman borrower on the bank official when he visited the borrower for recovery of loan which has become NPA. It is reported that he was assaulted with iron rods. The fact that the General Manager of the network was briefing the press about the incident confirms the occurrence of the incident.

It is not a one-off incident. Such incidents happen across the length and breadth of the country but many go unnoticed or unreported. Even in Karnataka there are incidents of farmers threatening with dire consequences if the bank officials venture into their villages for recovery of loans. And there are examples of manhandling also.

What does all this indicate? Where from these borrowers get that audacity and arrogance. These are the moot questions that needs to be answered. But those who needs to be answered are burying their heads in the sand. May be it is banks top hierarchy, or the police or the political class or all who refuses to acknowledge that there is an elephant in the room.

This looking at the other way by these functionaries when they are suppose to take punitive action has emboldened the borrowers to take law into their hands. There is one more factor which has given these borrowers some semblance of moral legitimacy to their illegitimate behavior. What is that? This is what I have mentioned in my caption. The proverbial NPAs and the recent and all too sudden spurt in frauds. This is dangerous; has far reaching and widespread implications on the banks ability to lend and recover. The frauds have become a commonplace in the newspaper and is being reported with such an alarming regularity as if they are reporting weather conditions. The inability of the Banks or its supervisor the RBI or their master i.e, the government to take any action when lakhs of cores are classified as NPAs and thousands of cores are swindled through frauds, as I have already mentioned has lent some degree of acceptance of their hooliganism and outrageous acts. The worst fallout of this inability to bring to books, these economic offenders, is the growing resistance of the general and otherwise well meaning borrowers to repay the loans quoting these NPAs and Frauds. When the bank's officials go for recovery, even a man in the remotest area taunts - why you have not recovered from Vijay Mallya. And the latest addition to this is Nirav Modi. And the banker's conscience is really hurt and his morale is lowered though he may pretend otherwise. The urgent need therefore is to take punitive action on these large corporate willful defaulters and fraudsters which should be strong and demonstrative. Then only the last man in the last mile too behave. Otherwise, if it turns into a kind of movement by some ill-advised elements in the society not to pay the loans till the government recovers from the big defaulters, it will be disastrous for the banking system. Though this idea may be farfetched, but it has a distant possibility.

K N Krishnan.
Vice president, SEWA, Bangalore.

Political scenario post UP by elections.

The by elections in UP recently held have set in motion an interesting trend. The allies of BJP have found sudden reasons to be dissatisfied with the main partner. Perhaps they were enduring with some degree of uneasiness hitherto and waiting for some honorable exit point. The result of UP by pools came in handy for them to do what they were waiting for. For Chandrababu Naidu it is a God sent opportunity. With elections round the corner in some time in the future, he was feeling uncomfortable with BJP as there is a large chunk of Muslim vote base in his state. By continuing with BJP he would have been perceived as one who is "Running with the hare and hunting with the Hounds". This contradiction he always wanted to clear himself off much before the state assembly elections.

Nitish kumar in Bihar has started to make some noise which is discomforting to BJP. When he deserted Lallo in Mahaghatbandhan arrangement on a flimsy reason of corruption and joined BJP, he thought that BJP was a rising star and decided to sail with it. When series of setbacks started to haunt BJP in the by pools, he is realizing that BJP is now a sinking ship and some how wanted to desert that sinking ship. He has started making some noise probably an indication of the next step he may take. His whatever reasoning will warm nobody's hearts. He has already lost the credibility he once enjoyed before joining BJP. The vitriolic Shivsena as usual is blowing hot and cold and continuously criticizing BJP. LokJanShakti leader Ram Vilas Pawan is bold enough to sermonise BJP to have change in perception towards dalits. KCR has reached out to Mamata Banerjee and already dreaming of a third front.

Congress not able to do anything is rubbing hands in glee at the developments. Its position is so pathetic that after losing deposits in the two by pools, it is celebrating the victory of SP as its own.

All these developments on the horizon only suggest that the opposition parties are in great hurry to encash the anti Modi sentiment. In the process they have forgotten that Modi and Shah can bounce back with renewed vigour, learning from the mistakes and insulating the party from such mistakes in 2019. Though, no doubt, that Modi's aura of invincibility has suffered to an extent, he is only down but definitely not out. Opposition has to handle/face him with lot of foresight, careful planning and precise execution which the opposition is not familiar with or known for. Moreover the basics/fundamentals of alliance if at all they are going to stitch are to be drawn with great circumspection, caution, accommodation, and maturity. The preparation of agree all program is the toughest part and first right step in this direction. Congress even if it has bigger number of seats than other opposition parties in 2019, it will be reduced to a level of regional party as for as bargaining power is concerned. It will be regional parties that may hold the sway. Opposition has equally daunting task or even more difficult task than BJP in 2019.

K N Krishnan.      94496 12446

By elections in UP & Bihar: Whether BJP is ambushed?

The results of by pools in UP and Bihar have thrown up interesting food for thought and enough material for media to discuss. There is some ray of hope for non BJP parties where as there is every reason for BJP to worry about. BJP ceded two of its strong bastions, Gorakhpur and Phulpur Parliamentary constituencies to SP. Gorakhpur was the bastion of the incumbent Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath who held this constituency for five consecutive terms. The loss of this constituency is a clear loss of face for the Chief Minister. The situation in Phulpur is also no different. It was held by the incumbent Deputy Chief Minister. No body is talking of Congress's loss of deposits in both the places probably because it is not even worthy of mention. It is effaced from UP and it was only expected and therefore no excitement about this. Its position is so pathetic that it feels the victory of SP as if its own. The degeneration of the grand old party is so abysmal.

The position in Bihar too was not any comforting for BJP. The RJD won the seat Araria. This is the first Parliamentary election held after Nitish Kumar broke away from the grand alliance with Lallu's RJD and joined BJP. Also it is the first election after Lallu Prasad Yadav was sent to jail in the fodder scam. Nithish kumar too, like Yogi Adityanath suffered a severe loss of face in Bihar. Simultaneously it is thumbs up for Lallu in the jail. His charisma and mass appeal has not diminished and in fact it has improved. What does all these indicate for BJP?

One of the leaders of BJP while reacting to the results beautifully phrased it as "we were ambushed by SP and BSP coming together". It was unexpected and we were not prepared for this surprise. He is true and candid. But the outcome of the election has much more to offer beyond the SP and BSP alliance. The margin with which BJP has won the two Loksabha seats in 2014 was huge- more than 3 lakhs. This is something that should send BJP the sleepless nights than the actual defeat. There is a steep erosion in its vote share and a high percentage voter shift. Out of the 15 Parliamentary by polls held across various states since 2014, BJP could win only 2 seats. This should worry the BJP the most. The aura of invincibility built around Modi is slowly giving way and the master strategist Amit Shah can also be outsmarted. These are the two most important takeaways from the results.

More over, if the coming together of SP and BSP graduates into a well meaning alliance in UP for 2019, BJP will have tough time safeguarding the numbers it has achieved in 2014. BJP  presently wishing it away as a one off affair. But anything is possible in politics. Politics is an art of the possible. One may call it opportunistic or whatever. After all, all political parties are opportunistic. Best example is Kashmir. More so the increasing pan India spread of BJP may bring all the worried non BJP opposition parties together. Survival instinct will be a strong bond than any ideology or philosophy.

Modi has to invent some new slogans for 2019 as all the existing stuff in his armoury appears to be a spent force. His rhetoric like Gujarat model, Development (sab ka sath sab ka vikas), Achhe din , Job creation, Black money, Corruption etc., may not carry the day for him in 2019. Hoping to win 2019 with just rhetoric and sloganeering without delivery of promises made will be of very tall order and wishful. Demonetiization, GST, Digitisation, Aadhar etc., alone may not be sufficient to bring him back to his second term. Something (programmes) that really touches the lives of the common man is the best immunity from defeat.

K N Krishnan.

What is ailing the Indian banking system?

The Indian Banks and for that matter the entire banking system is continuously in the news for all the wrong reasons. Banks have become so susceptible and vulnerable to the frauds that frauds have become a commonplace. The alarming regularity and the monumental amount involved in the act is the cause for great concern. What is even more disturbing is the fact that defrauding a Bank no more requires any extraordinary adroitness. It is being perpetrated as if it is such a normal thing. This raises questions about the security of the transactions done in the banking system and the laxity in following the laid down systems and procedures. Well, now comes the crucial question of finding the culprits (or scapegoats, if I may say so). Here two things are very important for consideration. Firstly, the length of the period for which this fraudulent transactions are performed and secondly the astronomical amount involved in it. These two factors are very vital in arriving at the conclusions and nailing the culprits. No single individual can imagine the scale of the fraud that has happened let alone committing it. There is something more than that meets the eye. The entire narrative, discussion and the focus is mainly on how it has happened. Only the small fish so far has been caught. The sharks are still at large and are having a free run in the safe heavens overseas without having any compunction or remorse. The larger question of bringing the fraudsters to book is not given the urgency and the importance it deserves. This is something unusual and bizarre and gives rise to questions of honesty of intentions on the part of the establishment.

The other serious malady afflicting the banking is the poor performance of the economy. Banking performance is always inexorably linked to the economic growth. When the economy is not in good health, naturally banking cannot be robust. This point is invariably missed out by the self declared judges and the commentators in the media. The performance of banking cannot be measured in isolation and various contributory factors have to be factored in for its objective evaluation.

The other most important factor that is contributing to PSBs NPA kitty most liberally is their vast exposure to the infrastructure, power and telecom sectors where there is a long gestation period. Any changes in the laws, changes in the economic environment during this gestation period will throw out of gear all the assumptions on which the loan proposal is processed and will affect the performance of these sectors thus impacting the banks which has taken exposure. The mind-boggling figures of NPA are a serious threat to the very existence of many banks themselves. It is only the onerous responsibility of the PSBs to engage in the nation building activities /schemes /programs of the government where the scope for profit making is either absent or abysmally low. And the private sector and foreign banks doesn't have this exposure/risk and to that extent their loan books are safe and precisely for this reason their performance cannot be and should not be compared with that of PSBs. It is simply unjust and atrocious to do that.

As if this is not enough, the public nature of the banking has its concomitant baggage. PSBs are misused and abused for all things that are simply not banking. They are often used as government offices to discharge the tasks that fall strictly in the domain of government departments.

Adding salt to wound is the new malaise of cross selling which has become contagious in the Public sector banks. There seems to be no stoppage of this in the near future despite the occasional noise made by the TUs. Their voice is just ignored and not taken cognizance of. Their meek, weak and inaudible noise has remained a cry in the wilderness. And the show is going on unnerved. This cross selling or misselling whatever one calls has derailed banking and banking has lost its direction.

HAPPY WOMEN'S DAY

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Death of Sridevi and lessons to be learnt

The death of Sridevi just before she was to have attended a marriage function in Dubai was shocking. The photos in the media showed that she had dressed up for the function and waiting to go. What happened afterwards is not known but the sad news of her untimely death we received. It is reported that she died of cardiac arrest.

She was a glamorous and charming actress who not only acted in the South Indian languages but conquered the Hindi Bollywood filmdom too. She was a finest actress. She was acting with such an effortless ease and playfulness. In her untimely death the film industry has lost an outstanding artist.

May her soul rest in peace. May God give strength to the bereaved two beautiful daughters and family members to bear the loss of the most celebrity member of the family.

I now turn philosophical. Perhaps the sudden and unexpected death of Sridevi would drive home the point which I wanted to make. Many of us during our lifetime wished to do certain things and somehow defer doing them thinking that we can do them later since there is no urgency to do them NOW. Some of the things are so dear to our heart that we don't want to miss them but still postpone them thinking that we will do it ONE DAY. What we don't realize is that ONE DAY, we may miss it eternally and it may not come again. Imagine Sridevi. She would have planned so many good things to do long ago but somehow she would have not done for various reasons. She would have postponed for a future date. Alas! that date never came in her life. Because life ended abruptly.

So, friends, it is HERE AND NOW that we have to finish all the good things we always contemplated to do but not able to do, may be for reasons of lack of time or you would have planned for some day in future. According to me, it is lack of firm will to do that keeps one postponing. Many times we would have wished that we can do. It remained just a hit and run thought. If you have a strong will and conviction and most importantly the realization that life is uncertain, we may take up the things in right earnest.

Just imagine/assume that you live, say, only for a month, a year or for a few days etc.,. Think of the rush of thoughts that flood your mind. You would have so many things you always wanted to do but didn't do. And now you are in a virtually chaotic condition. Instead of reaching this point, let us finish off the good things first especially paying back to society, because we have taken so much from it. Innumerable people would have contributed for our comfortable living. A scavenger, a construction worker, a carpenter, a Mason, a Labourer who works to lay the road, a maid servant, a milk man and most importantly the farmer who toils in the farm without whose sweat we would have died of hunger. We take things and people for granted. It is most appropriate here to recall the words of - Mark Twain who said - Twenty years hence, you will repent for the things you didn't do than for the things you did.

Let us do the good things first and postpone the bad and harmful ones.

K N Krishnan - 9449612446