It is reported that banks will open 8000 branches this year. Such
reckless expansion of branches by banks proved disastrous in seventies and eighties
also when in the name of Service Area Approach, banks were advised to open
branches in remote areas. Banks in order to abide by instruction of Ministry of
Finance and in order to achieve the set target opened thousands of branches
without ensuring adequate infrastructure and without having trained manpower to
manage the branches opened in villages.
Very soon management of banks as also
government of India realized that profitability of almost all public sector
banks was adversely affected due to large scale expansion. Bank staffs who were
posted in far flung village areas found it very difficult to survive and their
families also felt stranded and isolated from society. As a consequence
frustration developed in a large section of employees and their enthusiasm to
work for banks got diluted and they became either indifferent to bank’s policy
or became corrupt to earn money on every sanction of loan without caring for
future of repayment.
Loan sanctioned by bankers in these areas were not monitored
properly and a feeling developed in villages that loan given by banks are not
to be refunded. Corrupt practice took the root where bankers in nexus with
block officials misappropriated bank’s fund or financed to unscrupulous persons
or earned huge money in form of commission or bribe .Many officers of bank as
also that of state government did not hesitate even in making fake advances to
loot the bank by both hands . Unfortunately banks also became sympathetic on
such corrupt employees in the name of achievement of target of lending imposed
by MOF in the name of social welfare schemes.
Not only this even business
potential of these branches were too low to survive. Advances allowed in these
branches by bank officers started going bad and ratio of Non Performing Assets (NPA
or Bad debts) went on increasing. After losing a lot, government of India and
management of Bank decided to close uneconomical and nonviable branches or to
turn them satellite branches or to merge them with nearby bigger branches with
a declaration that they will continue to serve the village allotted to such
closed or merged branches. Somehow some improvement started taking place in
banks and branch expansion was curtailed and controlled for a few years and the
era of consolidation started.
After burning fingers in such reckless
branch expansion it was thought that banks will not commit such mistake in future.
But unfortunately politicians of this country are so much votes oriented that
they are least bothered for health of bank, nor for bank staff and neither for
villagers who are still exploited by local money lenders or micro finance
institute. This is why government of India and Ministry of Finance have again
started building pressure on each banks to open branches in all unbanked
villages even if they are non viable, even if banks do not have adequate
trained manpower to manage these rural branches and even if there is no scope
of adequate business potential in these areas.
In the name of Financial Inclusion, banks are again committing the
same blunder of reckless expansion as they did in seventies and eighties in the
name of Service Area Approach. ‘’Old wine in new Bottle ‘’ is the fittest
proverb to ascribe for banks.
After passage of a decade or so, Politicians come out with
different schemes with more or less same ingredients. When they fail in one
scheme, they come out with similar other scheme with difference name but the
loot continues in the same fashion. Cancer of Corruption does not allow any
scheme to get real success. Politicians and banks together damaged banks first
in the name of Service Area Approach and now they are damaging in the name of Financial
Inclusion. So far as poor villagers or poor persons of this country are concerned,
they were not happy with the system in the past and they are not happy in the
present , though all such attractive polices are framed for them and meant to serve them only . They were cheated
in the name of Antodya Scheme, then in the name of Integrated Rural Development
Scheme and now in the name of Financial Inclusion
Fifty percent of branches of every bank are
having huge small amount Non Performing assets and majority of such branches
are running in operation losses. More than Fifty percent of loan accounts are
NPA in majority of branches and still management of bank claim to be safe and
healthy.
Branches after branches are being opened every year but
recruitment of additional manpower matches branch expansion is not ensured. Total
manpower in most of the banks is almost the same as it was a decade ago. It
means they are adding branches but not adding manpower. They recruit manpower
hardly equivalent to number of bank staff retire or resign every year. Due to
this unbalanced manpower policy , there is huge work load on all existing
employees and this is why bank employees are abused, tortured and forced to
work late hours, and work on Sundays and holidays . This is why bank employees
are not in a position to properly carry out pre sanction inspection before
sanction of new loan, nor they have time to monitor the advances disbursed by
them and nor do they have time to follow up defaulting borrowers to ensure
timely repayment of loans disbursed by them.
To add fuel to fire management of almost all banks are now
suffering scarcity of experienced manpower. They have started therefore to give
promotion even in two or three years of service which used to be rare
possibility in seventies and eighties or even in nineties. Officers who have
got no banking idea and no credit exposure are made branch head and officers
who have not served in branches are made Regional Head.
To make it more worse,Banks have started recruiting officers directly from campus in higher scales to attract good officers from other banks. They are not hesitating recruiting their own kith and kin from campuses of their choice , They do not hesitate causing loss to banks by paying higher pay to such newly recruited officers . They have no shame even in creating anomalies of pay of experienced and inexperienced officers.Twenty or Thirty year experienced and performing officers are not getting salary as much as newly recruited or five year experienced officers are getting in the name of so called meritorious or specialist officers.
In the name of merit they are indulged in corrupt practices even in recruitment and promotion of employees. Under such circumstances and in such polluted and corruption inflicted environment, one cannot dream of banks remaining healthy and growing in near future.
To make it more worse,Banks have started recruiting officers directly from campus in higher scales to attract good officers from other banks. They are not hesitating recruiting their own kith and kin from campuses of their choice , They do not hesitate causing loss to banks by paying higher pay to such newly recruited officers . They have no shame even in creating anomalies of pay of experienced and inexperienced officers.Twenty or Thirty year experienced and performing officers are not getting salary as much as newly recruited or five year experienced officers are getting in the name of so called meritorious or specialist officers.
In the name of merit they are indulged in corrupt practices even in recruitment and promotion of employees. Under such circumstances and in such polluted and corruption inflicted environment, one cannot dream of banks remaining healthy and growing in near future.
In brief one can say that politicians of this country who are well versed in corruption and well versed in protecting corrupt officers are leaving no stone unturned to make bankers also corrupt and to protect all corrupt bankers by hook or by crook.Clever Bankers and clever politicians are serving their personal interest at the cost of villagers , poor citizens of this country and the scarcely available fund of the country.
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PSU banks aim to open over 8,000 branches in FY14: FM--ET 3rd July 2013
NEW DELHI: PSU banks aim to open more than 8,000 branches in the current financial year ending in March 2014, Finance MinisterP Chidambaram said on Wednesday.
Government plans to directly transfer cash benefits to bank accounts of people under various social welfare scheme over the next few years and is expanding the banking network.
Currently, more than 40 per cent of the 1.2 billion population is not covered by the banking system. Creating more branches would allow Indians, particularly those in rural areas, to get credit at a cheaper rate. Many now have to rely on money-lenders who charge up to 30 per cent interest rates.
The increase in depositors will also allow banks to expand their business and lend to the corporate sector.
Government plans to directly transfer cash benefits to bank accounts of people under various social welfare scheme over the next few years and is expanding the banking network.
Currently, more than 40 per cent of the 1.2 billion population is not covered by the banking system. Creating more branches would allow Indians, particularly those in rural areas, to get credit at a cheaper rate. Many now have to rely on money-lenders who charge up to 30 per cent interest rates.
The increase in depositors will also allow banks to expand their business and lend to the corporate sector.
Why do some win bank jobs only to turn them down?---Business Line -4th July 2013
- G. NAGA SRIDHAR
- N. S. VAGEESH
JULY 3:
It is a peculiar paradox. There is on the one hand a mad rush for bank employment and, on the other, a good number of selected candidates are rejecting job offers.
Information obtained from various banks shows that 15-20 per cent of the selected candidates do not join. This is surprising as, just in the case of the State Bank of India, over 10 lakh had applied for 1,500 probationary officer postsearlier this year. Latest data reveal that over 53,000 officers and clerks were recruited by banks in the current financial year (the process started last year), and almost every bank had a set of non-joiners. For instance, of the 730 probationary officers selected by Union Bank of India, only 583 joined. And, of the 490 to whom Vijaya Bank issued joining letters, only 380 reported for duty. Central Bank of India could fill up only 275 of the 505 trainee officer vacancies in the unreserved category.
Experts differ on the reasons for this trend. Anil K. Khandelwal, who headed a panel on human resource in public sector banks a few years back, told Business Line that place of posting is a key determinant on whether a candidate will join or not.
The other draw is higher studies. Many join up but leave soon enough discouraged by poor career prospects and dull work environment.
“I found the work environment full of politics... Sometimes, the only option available for an officer to get work done is to do it himself. The working hours are also long,” Mythili Charan Mishra from Patna said. He quit his trainee officer job in an associate bank of SBI.
Banks, however, say the situation will improve. H. S. Upendra Kamath, Chairman and Managing Director, Vijaya Bank, and M. Anjaneya Prasad, Executive Director of Syndicate Bank, expect the ratio of those joining to be higher than last year.
The previous year, candidates had a choice of offers from many banks, whereas this year, under the new system of routing, the offer will be only from one bank.
TROUBLE
But over 60,000 people who cleared the IBPS (Institute of Banking Personnel Selection) exam for officers and clerks are upset about this as it would deny opportunities for them. “Banks should immediately fill up the vacancies created by those not joining. Also, IBPS had allotted fewer candidates than what the banks require,” Zia Mandal, an aspirant complained.
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