Wednesday, June 23, 2010

health of Bank

Government is constrained to infuse capital in PSU banks year after year to salvage sinking banks or to boost up their capital adequacy ratio. Even World Bank is contemplating to infuse capital in selected banks in India to strengthen these banks. This reveals that PSU banks are actually growing weakness year after year and their balance sheets are nothing but result of window dressing in the style similar to which Satyam Computers applied to boost up image of the company.

PSU Banks are facing continuous erosion in their capital due to dirty policies of the government, politically motivated steps taken by the government and constraint in implementation of good policies. Inter bank interest rate competition, waiver of loan culture, financing based on political compulsions, constraints in recovery of loan from willful defaulters, undue delay in legal proceedings in want of proper judicial reforms, unhealthy HRD policies resulting in promotion of corrupt officers and demotivation of good officers etc are a few reasons which are causing great loss to banks and which has made the bank’s health poor and ultimately which forces government to infuse capital in banks.

It is to be noted here that when politicians take advantage of public money held in banks by resorting to loan melas or waiver of loan culture, bankers take it easy while lending to public. Bankers too do not hesitate in lending to improper companies and individuals with doubtful integrity just for their personal gain. There is no doubt bankers have inculcated wrong practices of flattery in banks. Executives, Branch heads, Regional Heads, Zonal Heads, EDs, CMDs focus on their personal status , personal earning by way of underhand dealings and indulge in flattery to their bosses, ministers, officers in banking divisions. They do not hesitate in taking malafide decisions just to please their bosses. Financing to wrong persons and taking gifts or money in return has become a common feature in banks at all levels.

If bankers do not earn illegal money they cannot please their bosses, government offices and even their juniors. Such honest officers cannot dream of promotion and good posting. As such earning money in credit delivery and sharing the same with bosses has become inevitable for survival in banks with dignity. Those officers who are not versed in this tact or modern art of survival or those who protest wrong financing are either posted at remote places or punished. Such genuinely loyal officers can never imagine of promotion or good posting. This is the main reason that bank officers holding key posts indulge in corrupt practice without caring for health of bank’s assets and this is the reason that intrinsic health of banks in general is not sound and banks always need financial support from government to survive.

But the million dollar question is who will bell the cat when Charter Accountant, officers working in rating agencies, officers in vigilance departments, officers working in bank’s own audit offices, advocates, key regulators all are birds of same feather.
23rd June 2010

Saturday, June 5, 2010

banks Officers Association

Bank officers Association are getting monthly subscription of Rs.100 to Rs.200 from each member every month. In addition they will get levy of Rs.3000/ from each member in lieu of bipartite settlement signed on 27th April 2010. Members are happy or not, that is immaterial.

I think total accumulated fund of Officers Association in various banks will grow to hundreds of crores of rupees. This fund is not only enough to meet the usual traveling and staying expenses incurred by union leaders for various issues but also more than enough to meet even entire salaries of all union leaders.

As a matter of fact union leaders are more often than not, busy in union matters and hence they hardly do any work for the branch or office they are posted. It is pity that even officer community in general is not happy with their performance as union leaders. On the contrary their actual energy is lost in saving bad officers and seldom used for any gain for honest workers or for any relief to those honest officers who have been arbitrarily posted in critical areas or rejected in promotion processes due to ill motive of executives. They have failed in giving relief to officers who have been made scapegoat for fraud and irregular credit committed by corrupt officers.

In such position I am of the opinion that these union leaders should be removed from muster roll of the bank and bank should stop paying salary to these leaders. Instead such leaders should be professionally trained to serve the interest of officers who are associated with the union and they should be paid by their parent Union itself. In this way bank will save crores of rupees which are paid as salaries and perquisites to these non performing officers. Bank can use this saved money in creation of new jobs for hundreds and thousands of young unemployed persons. Besides, removing from bank’s duty, union leaders will have full time to think about their members. Since these leaders do only union activities, it will be right from all angle of consideration that their salary should be paid by union fund only.

In case officers do not agree to this proposal or they apprehend that their interest by outsiders will be jeopardized ,they should solemnly declare and take oath that they would not nominate any retired officer as their union leader in future and make best efforts to replace retired officers serving as union leaders with officers who are in service. Because leaders who are no more in service cannot fight seriously and devotedly for better interest of serving employees, rather they look into avenues to cheat serving employees and give maximum benefit to those who have either retired or resigned or removed from the bank. Latest settlement is the ideal example for such sorry state of affairs prevailing in Bank and pitiable position of officers compared to other employees working in Central Government offices or PSUs.

In addition to this they should be made accountable and punishable for any lapse on union activities and their performance should be judged by a group of hundred officers who are actively working in the bank. Expenses incurred by union leaders should be fully scrutinized by a team of at least ten Chartered Accountants and the certified balance sheet of union fund should be circulated among all members. Officer should also appoint some legal experts in each district or at least in state capitals to stop injustice perpetuated by bank management only because they know judicial proceedings in India is too costly and too much cumbersome and time consuming that one is constrained to bear with injustice.

Leaders will then learn a lesson, understand the importance of their role and at least not repeat the history of committing blunder of signing a agreement of wage revision which has instead of solving problems of their poorly paid members has created so many anomalies and tried its best to divide officers community by accepting various discriminatory rules like recovery from PF optees (leaving pension optees), causing loss to VRS optees, resignees, family pension takers, fitment of officers at the state of Rs23520 in scale III and that in scale IV at the same stage and so on. Not only this, many clerks will get better arrear due to this latest settlement compared to officers in junior or middle management. There is no Stagnation in any increment of Central Government employees in ay cadre as per latest Pay Commission Report, but it continues to deprive senior office of annual increment for none of their fault.

If we talk of other issues, it is worthwhile to mention here that management in collusion with violating even their transfer policies, misusing policy meant for rural posting framed by Government of India, misusing policy for posting in North East region, giving promotion to corrupt and flatter officers taking advantage of Interview marks (which an interviewer can give whimsically to make or mar the career of an officer of his choice) Union leaders is silent spectator of torturous treatment given to good officers who are real performers but who do not have time to flatter executives and provide costly gifts to their bosses.

There are thousands of officers who have been continuously working in villages, officers in Non Metros are transferred frequently form one region to other, one state to other and even one zone to other whereas officers posted in Metros are seldom transferred out of their parent state. There is a policy that upto scale III officers will not be transferred out of region but this policy is violated frequently and union leaders remain silent spectators.

There is a policy that an officer cannot work in a region for ten years continuously, management allows many to continue or adjust them back in the same place after giving a formal break of one month outside the state. Is this not enough to prove that there is reign of injustice under the umbrella of union leaders?

Banks are performing better and better despite man power constraints but the real fruits of this growth are hardly shared with junior officers who work hard day and night for the growth.

Danendra Jain
Agartala
05.06.2010