Horns of a dilemma- RBI

RBI has no option but to reduce the policy rate at least by 0.25% if not by 0.50% to satisfy the FM and honor the market sentiments.Except perhaps, a small reduction in whole sale Price Index, all other parameters are not as per RBI's expectations.CAD may register a fall but that alone cannot be expected to strengthen the other fundamentals of the economy particularly investment and Growth.Savings have not been picking up and the banks liquidity constraints remain where RBI cannot be of any assistance. Credit off take is based on market borrowings and how far the credit helps to improve production and expansion of the economy is a matter of serious concern.Recycling of credit does not happen in the context of accumulation of NPAs and restructuring of assets.As rightly pointed out,how RBI is in a dilemma and how it is going to face is worth watching and analyzing.

Dr T.V.Gopalakrishnan
( This comment appeared in Business standard dated 30/4/13 against the editorial Horns of a dilemma)

Airlines to charge for preferred seat, baggage etc

Greed has no limit. Even for using toilets, Airlines can charge. Many a drop will make an ocean is what they think without realising that the Ocean can sink the Airlines without any trail left.

Dr.T.V.Gopalakrishnan

NREGA and Productive assets

A very well written article highlighting the negatives of NREGA.The fact remains that there is shortage of labour both in agricultural and industrial sector and the creation of productive assets through NREGA has not been significant.There is thus an imperative need to meaningfully utilize NREGA funds in such a way that, the supply of labor is evenly distributed to agriculture and industry and the utilization of funds results in the creation of productive assets and improvements in the standards of living among the labor community in particular.

Dr.T.V.Gopalakrishnan

(This comment appeared in Times of India and ET dated 28/413)

Saradha Fraud and RBI

Blindly blaming RBI for all the ills in the economy only smacks of poor understanding of the political system of the country,its linkage with the financial system  and partisan attitude of the writer. Liberalisation and banking reforms introduced in the economy have given freedom to close down branches in rural  and other areas if they are found nonviable and banks which came up under new Licensing scheme brought in uncalled for and unhealthy competition in the business aiming only profit at any cost. The gaps thus created by banks in banking which ignored the needs of the masses have been filled by unscrupulous entrepreneurs with the active and committed support of politicians . They exploited the ignorance of the masses and started looting in the name of offering higher rate of return. The Concepts Financial Inclusion and Financial literacy came up  perhaps to cover up these dirty gimmicks and unfortunately both these remained only in paper and did not take off in the desired manner. Blaming RBI is only an escape route and divert the attention of public turning against the Govt for its lapses on effective Governance and greed for amassing wealth by individual politicians. Enlightened authors should be able to view things in its correct perspective and bias needs to be avoided on such important and very serious issues.  It is not an exaggeration to add here that RBI is perhaps the only Institution which has emerged as the most successful Central Bank in the last decade when the whole world was facing turmoil in general and India has been having its own political and financial instability.  

Dr.T.V.Gopalakrishnan
  (This comment  appeared in modified form in Times of India  dated 25/4/13 in response to an article Saradha fraud: blame the RBI for a stunted formal financial sector)

Indian Middle class, Savings and problems

A very well written and thought provoking article.For name sake we have banks, post offices, mutual funds, insurance companies, Corporate Deposit schemes, equity market, but once you venture into any of these then one will come to know there are catches and problems every where. The concept of KYC implemented by banks and other institutions unmindful of investors' personal dignity, has virtually killed the savings instinct among the people and if at all some people save they have the wherewithal, stamina and minimum contacts and influence to overcome the hurdles and swallow the insults in the process to save some money. This is perhaps the core minimum deposits banks and Post offices enjoy. Some agents are extremely smart and persuasive and because of this some deposits do go into corporates. Some agents are greedy and shameless and they manage to mobilise deposits for the cheat funds and that too maximum from gullible public who have no literacy leave alone financial literacy. The existence of equity market is not even known to 95% of the population and the procedures and problems to get into equity market and become victims of whole sale ride keep prospective investors away from market. To cap it all the Governance , Regulatory and supervisory system have been given a go bye by our smart politicians and bureaucrats and the losses suffered by the people have to be forgotten over a period and  they resort to bribe, corruption theft robbery, loot etc to make up for the losses. If any of these things are not possible, commit suicide and that is not viewed something shameful or a black spot by those who rule in the name of welfare of the people. This is perhaps the presence of Kaliyuga when, rapes, loots, and all undesirable and antisocial activities flourish and people have no choice but to bear and put up bravely.
Dr.T.V.Gopalakrishnan

( This is in response to An article Middle class savings Quick sand ahead appeared in Times of India dated 25/4/13).

Retail investors in Capital Market

The share of retail investors in Indian Capital market has been pretty low and every now and then there are some reports that this share should be enhanced.But the fact remains that 95% if not more than the population may not be aware of the very existence of the share market and who ever is there by any chance, they may not be a happy lot as their hard earned savings would have entered the drainage for want of adequate knowledge or would have been trapped by smart marketing people engaged by brokers and bankers.
Dr.T.V.Gopalakrishnan
( This comment appeared in ET dated 24/4/13 i response to the News Inte Disinvestment Policy  Retail Investors should be encouraged )

Banks Liquidity Issues and RBI

This refers to your editorial for freedom for cash( Business line( April,22.2013).Your observation that RBI has more methods of managing liquidity in the system than resorting to tools of financial repression cannot hold good as far the  liquidity problems of banks in India are concerned. If at all banks face any liquidity crunch, it is their own making and RBI cannot be expected to come to their rescue ignoring its monetary policy stand. Banks in India face liquidity crunch because of poor mobilization of deposits thanks to poor customer service, high inflation, reluctance to encash financial inclusion as a business opportunity, high level of NPAs, convenience of doing business with borrowed funds without caring for cost of funds, mismatch between short term assets and short term liabilities.

The way banks function now with 78 % CD ratio when there is not much of demand for fresh credit is something indicative of some serious deficiency in asset –liability management which needs to be thoroughly probed. The NPA deposit ratio needs to be analysed in detail. The banking system has been having liquidity problem for quite some time and the solution for that cannot be expected to come from RBI and that too bringing down the CRR which is already low. 

Dr.T.V.Gopalakrishnan

(This comment given to Business Line in response to their Editorial Freedom for Cash dated 22/4/13).

Coustomers of Banks and their protection

Dr Chakrabarty is known for making some comments not befitting his position and the responsibilities. In the recent meeting of banks in Mangalore, he advised customers to demand service from employees without, however, realising that as it is same thing happens and customers fight in branch premises to get some attention and service. The employees manning the counters do not even show the courtesy to look at the customer's face and say hallo. With the implementation of KYC norms even the human touch once prevalent in banks has been missing and employees have a check list of documents to be demanded.With the invasion of technology, the need for human touch has been done way with and one has to only press some buttons to get the transactions done. Sometimes one gets a feeling that it is better not to deal with staff and get irritated and carry a bad feeling about staff. To that extent machines are far better than human beings.All said the customer service in banks has been deteriorating day by day with bad repercussions on Financial inclusion, deposit mobilisation, NPA accumulation,generation of black money in the society as KYC keeps away people from approaching banks etc. In this context the approach of the DG expecting customers to fight for service is not in good state and it only encourages staff to be more indifferent and casual as such an expression smacks of the regulator's incompetence to find a viable solution to improve the customer service.

Dr.T.V.Gopalakrishnan This appeared in Business life

Misselling by banks and trapping customers

This is an excellent move from Money Life.New generation banks in particular have appointed some relationship managers and they trap innocent and some gullible customers by making them invest in some of their toxic products assuring the best of return. Once the money is invested these relationship manager are not to be seen in picture and banks cut their commission and brokerage from the money invested. The relationship gets spoiled once for all but banks win in the process. There does not seem to be any check either by the RBI or SEBI on such practices and the banks fail to tell as to whether the products in question have the approval from SEBI.Once the investor comes to know of the trap and insists on refund of the amount the banks refund part of the amount depending on the investors influence, contacts, position and fighting spirit etc. Most of the investors suffer and they being senior citizens have to either forgo this money and forget it for ever. RBI or SEBI should ask the details of such traps and the fate of these investments. Being Senior citizens, they lose track of these transactions and they do not know whom to approach and how to get back the money.The banks indulgence in such unethical practices should be nipped in bud itself and for this SEBI and RBI should have a joint system of supervision. Mr Sharma's case is one such instance which Money Life beautifully tackled and brought to a sensible and logical conclusion.
Dr.T.V.Gopalakrishnan.
(This comment is in response to an article Money Life Foundation memorandum to RBI on misselling of products in Money life dated 19/4/13)

Banks and Customers Relationship the Ground reality

Customers Prefer human touch and banks  do not prefer human touch is the reality. With the invasion of technology and introduction of KYC norms, the banks are more worried to collect all documents than to have any relationship with the customers. Even the very courtesy of saying hallo and recognizing the customer is missing in most of the PSU banks  is the ground reality. Even the managers do the same and they are all obsessed with the collection of documents and keeping the records in compliance with the KYC. Know your Documents and Kill Your Customers is what is the accepted form of relationship in banking these days. Even the deposit customers who enjoyed some exchange of pleasantries with bank officials are being looked down upon as idiots having no other ways of saving  the money other than coming and troubling the   officials. It is time a new definition is given for Banker Customer Relation ship and this has been figuring as one of the key methods of assessment of banks' performance. The banks should  have a Customer relationship ratio on par with capital adequacy ratio. This will help to improve the deposit mobilisation, financial inclusion, bring down NPAs, and reduce the black money circulation. Will the authorities be serious in improving the Customer Connectivity ? 

Dr.T.V.Gopalakrishnan

Un ethical trade practices of banks and companies

This sort of discount schemes and undercutting by banks and companies to attract customers not only bring in unhealthy trade practices but also encourage unethical business without any accountability. The other day SBI was offering 5 % cash discount for purchase of any Consumer durables using SBI credit card. Though the consumer initially benefits by this cash back, the logic for offering such discounts has no reasoning or rationale as the bank cannot afford to reduce its profit margin and offer this cash discount. Being a commercial organisation and a limited company , SBI is accountable to its regulators, customers and share holders and other stake holders. and how this 5% is accounted for is a major question. SEBI and RBI should not encourage such undesirable trade practices which if not nipped in the bud itself can lead to a major scam without leaving any trail.Merchant establishments also cannot pass on 5% to SBI as it may have its own impact on their profit and loss account and balance sheet. There will be some catch some where which the customers may not be able to gauge thorough his normal common sense. It is for authorities to have some regulation for these mal practices and bring in some order of ethics  Dr.T.V.Gopalakrishnan This comment appeared in Times of India in response to an article Companies offer freebies to beat slowdown dated 17/4/13)

Missing Opportunity for want of Human resources

 This refers to your editorial Missed opportunity!5/4/13). It is a fact that with liberalisation and implementation of banking sector reforms, the recruitment in banks has been on the decline and the attrition rate has been on the increase in the public sector banks To get of rid of the earlier legacy of handling union related issues, the banking system had gone for a Voluntary Retirement Scheme and got rid of a good chunk of experienced bankers who got into the then coming up new generation banks which got the benefit of experienced man power with the proper blend of state of the art technology. The public sector banks lost the man power and the technology was not that developed to compete with the fast aggressive new banks and there has always been a void both in terms of technology and man power. They are now facing the greatest risk of surviving in business for want of adequate and talented man power. They do not attract the best of human resources from the market because of several inhibiting factors such as poor salary structure, the need to go in for massive financial inclusion which is not being relished heart of heart, high expectations on customer service and handling of highly complicated exotic products like options features and other derivatives, The training system has been virtually absent in relation to the expectations in the market. The KYC norms has literally taken away the human touch and they are only concerned with the documents which bring more risk to business. Management of human capital is going to be the major challenge for the banking system and it will be the greatest risk at least for he Public sector banks in the near and distant future as well.

Dr.T.V.Gopalakrishnan
(This comment is in response to the Editorial Missed opportunity appeared in Business standard dated 15/4/13)

Creative accounting of banks at what cost?

The banks’ indulgence in creating mismatches between short term assets and liabilities by going in for high cost deposits without bothering about NIM is very common particularly in March to show an impressive performance  This results in liquidity risk and banks have to very often go for borrowings at high rates of interest. Further this sort of game plans of banks distort the very picture of balance sheet on any given date particularly at the end of financial  year and all the ratios may not reflect the exact position. Creative accounting pursued by banks is neither healthy nor  desirable for sound banking and it can expose the banks to some serious consequences especially when advances portfolio are not disciplined and NPAS are camouflaged by resorting to accounting juggleries. The assessment of Performance of banks and their MDs should be assessed based on January or February figures and not definitely March end figures. 

Dr.T.V.Gopalakrishnan

(This comment is furnished in response to MR K Sivaraman's article on mismatch between maturities of assets and liabilities appeared in Business line dated 15/413)  

Alernative to Gold

A very good analysis and timely warning to the people who are crazy beyond imagination to invest in gold.How ever, the analysis does not make any mention about our black money holders. where they will go ? Real estate prices have also sky rocketed and there are some checks and balances also as the Govt seems to be aware of the diversion of funds to real estate and can contemplate some serious action. Savings deposits are not attractive because of negative rate of return thanks to persisting double digit inflation. It is ideal time for the Govt to attract investments through Inflation Indexed bonds and tap the savings including the black money.

 

Dr.T.V.Gopalakrishnan

 

Human Resources, the Greatest Risk the Banking system faces :

The banking has undergone a sea change over a period in terms of form, complexion, technology size, volume of business and products expansion. The expectation from banking has  been on the increase as is always the case in a developing economy where integration with the  global economy is a reality and the function of intermediation is becoming more complex and challenging. The banking systems' balance sheet size is increasing and off balance sheet volume is becoming mind boggling compared to the past  trend. Inclusive growth being the accepted policy of the Government and financial inclusion is the only way out to ensure that, the responsibility of banking system is becoming  something  of a very high order in the sense that on one side, it has to grow to meet the challenges of  attaining standards of international excellence and on the other, it has to cater to the needs of the growing masses consisting of illiterate, half literate and poverty stricken, unemployed, underemployed, mobile population  who can be easily influenced by cheap politics often resorted to by our politicians who strongly propagate for periodical write off of loans etc.. Implementation of KYC norms which is becoming an inevitable necessity to eliminate many undesirable, antisocial and illegal activities in the larger interests of the society and adoption of fast changing technology as per the times, the  banking system's task is really daunting. While the economy grows the banking system enjoys good deposits, quality advances, investment and profit and the moment economy slows down, its first impact is first  felt  with growing non performing loans, restructuring of loans, poor deposits, advances, investments and low profit.

In this background the risks that banking system faces are manifold and more than anything, the biggest risk is from the angle of human resources. Business Risks will  emanate from human resources and as on today, it does not seem to have been adequately factored into and leave alone understood. Man power planning does not seem to have been given the importance it deserves in any of these bank groups. Recruitment, training, up gradation of skills and knowledge development, placement etc to meet the demands of present day banking illustrated in the above paragraph have not been figuring in the scheme of things and the risks arising from the management of human resources are not manageable  with ease and the  repercussions will be very serious. As it is, the absence of the Bankers Training College of the Reserve Bank of India  is very much visible in the working of banks these days and general ignorance of banking at operational and customer service delivery level has been very much felt. Monetary policy transmission mechanism through banking has been not as effective as the Reserve Bank desires and this has been perhaps due to the disconnect observed in understanding of the Reserve Bank's policy expectations at all levels of banking  as was the case earlier when the Banker's training College was functioning. A few top level executives of banks understand RBI's requirements which, however, do not get percolated down. The top management has its own commercial considerations and business targets, compelling it to keep RBI's policy requirements within the broad framework of its regulatory requirements and at the same time carry on with decisions best suited to its competence to expand business in a most competitive environment. The ability and knowledge of the bank's  human resources will only  command respect in the market and decide its reputation and growth prospects in future.

 The knowledge gap between the top management and down the line staff  will expose the banks to both business risk and regulatory risk. One example is interest rate fixation by the banks.  Banks announce a base rate and have their own Bench Mark Prime Lending Rate, Prime Lending Rate and  final rates charged to borrowers. The  implications of all these rates are not known at operational level staff and the borrowers are also not being made known or educated about the rates charged to them. Borrowers expectations from banks are high, banks expectations from the Reserve bank are high and Reserve bank's expectations from banks' borrowers  and markets are also high when it frames its policy rates. Ultimately,  when the human resources at banks' level work without having any knowledge of Government's economic and fiscal policies, Reserve Bank's monetary policies and its regulatory and supervisory requirements, and their own top management's philosophy it may lead to a major business risk particularly in the area of credit and asset management. This knowledge gap risk is very vital and needs to be filled up. Knowledge development particularly at least at middle level and top level management including all Board Members is very essential to understand the rationale behind management decisions on deposit, advances and investment, their mix and dynamics.

Up gradation of skills:

The skill development has to be based on banks portfolio mix in assets, liabilities and off balance sheet items. Though assets and liabilities consist of only very few items, the dynamics involved in the composition of assets and liabilities are getting complicated day by day. The human resources who manage these need both an overall knowledge of banks balance sheet items and specialised knowledge about the liabilities, assets and their composition and dynamics.  Placement of staff based on their aptitude, attitude, skill and knowledge  is very crucial in the coming days .

 The major liability of any bank is deposits and deposits are not easy to come these days because of tough competition, limited products, persistence of inflation and availability of alternate products in the products. Here the human resources have to be really talented not only in marketing of the products but also in attracting and retaining the customers. Knowledge of staff in understanding KYC requirements, monitoring of KYC through operations, providing of hassle free services to deposit customers, educating the customers about some basics of banking, handling of literate and illiterate customers etc require special attention of the management in selecting human resources and placing them. Since this is the first point of contact of customers, staff handling them have to be courteous, knowledgeable, helpful and well behaved. Banks' image is built up from here and this assumes lot of importance to minimise reputation risk. Banks will have to cater to different classes of customers for deposit mobilisation and here the risks that banks carry are unpredictable. All staff cannot handle all classes of customers is a ground reality and placement of staff to deal with different classes of customers is very sensitive and crucial.    

Similarly, advances which is also the bread and butter of banks business like deposits, need an expert staff who are good at understanding credit risks and the borrowers' competence, requirements, problems etc. The menace of NPAs can be minimised to a great extent, provided the bank staff and the borrowers interact well , understand each other's problems and conduct the operations in the borrowers' accounts to the satisfaction of borrowers and banks as well. Such a situation seldom happens in many a banks and this is due to the reluctance of bank staff to educate the borrowers, understand the borrowers and their genuine problems and upgrade their own knowledge and skills. Like this each area of bank's business particularly, foreign exchange, rural credit, derivatives etc require special skills and expertise. The human resources and technology used in these areas of business have to have perfect alignment on a progressive basis. Most of the banks have problems in these areas as technology and human resources do not move together. This happens as technology moves faster and human resources are left behind. The HR planning  on recruitment, training and placement to suit the technology and business changes is very critical.

Staff compensation is another area where the problem is going to be very complicated. Expectations are very high because of market conditions, where as the capacity to pay  in terms of profit  is limited. Retention of talented staff will be a problem and sudden and mass exit of staff will put the bank in a great business risk. This needs to be factored into in the HR policies of the bank. The attrition risk will be very high in future and finding replacement with high level of efficiency, expertise and knowledge will be at great risk. Loyalty of staff and institutions' response to staff's requirements have been on the decline have to be admitted and need a workable solution to ensure  continuity of relationship and mutual respect. Career progression is important and merit cannot be ignored and at the same time, white elephants have to be managed without affecting the organisations' efficiency and image. These are all sensitive issues and they need a continuous attention to keep the morale high.

Human capital which  deserves equal if not more importance than capital adequacy ratio in banks has  of late been getting ignored and banks will have to pay a huge price if they continue to ignore this vital aspect any more. The base of any dynamic business like banking is the strength of its human resources and they need to be very well  blended with the fast moving technology to ensure against all business risks both known and unknown in these days of competing environment domestically and internationally.

Dr.T.V.Gopalakrishnan,

9663508080.

( This article has been published in the book Risk Management The New Accelerator,brought out by Professional Risk Managers' International association, Hyderabad Chapter.)

Regulatory Issues Not that easy to Solve

The article reads well and has brought out some of the inhibiting factors in the effective regulation of the financial system by sighting poor legal design, systemic problem, lack of autonomy, and auditing a regulator.As long as the Govt has some designs as to how the various markets and institutions have to be run partially to satisfy the political agenda,one cannot expect to have a perfect regulatory mechanism to regulate the financial system. The Govt wants in built flexibility in any regulation and that affects the Institutions' functional autonomy. The so called operational autonomy autonomy is always dependent upon the person who heads the institution and for how long?The FSLRCS recommendations, however, need to be publicly and thoroughly debated as there are lot of conflicting regulatory interests which can precipitate and take advantage of regulatory gaps.The gaps can result in some catastrophe.

Dr.T.V.Gopalakrishnan 

This comment appeared in Busines Line dated 9/4/13 in response to an Article 'We need a unified regulator'.

E Currency and Central Banks

E currency cannot make Central Banks powerless provided their information system to capture the money supply is sound enough. The data integrity and the speed with which the information flows to Central Banks are fool proof, the e currency will only enhance the efficiency of Central Banks. The payment and settlement system if well regulated and captured by the Central Bank without any leakage, the monetary control mechanism can be made more effective and meaningful. In India, the problem is, it is cash oriented economy and mixing of black money takes away the Central Banks monetary transmission mechanism. The simultaneous existence of formal economy and informal economy renders it difficult to assess the money supply position for the Centrals Banks, where as, if there is only e currency, the Central Banks can have an improved mechanism to pursue their policies in a much better way.

Dr.T.V.Gopalakrishnan
(This comment appeared in Times of India against the Article E currency can make Central Banks Powerless) 

Coin shortage.The need for coin collecting machines

he problem of change for free exchange in transactions is perennial and despite best of efforts from the RBI, no solution is found.One way of solving this issue perhaps is to consider having coin taking/ buying machines in all malls and major hotels where people frequently gather and spend their money and time. In every house, there is accumulation of coins irrespective of its family members financial position and these coins can be deposited in coin accepting machines against a receipt. This receipt can be exchanged for goods and services there itself.Such arrangements are found and very common in some advanced nations.Nothing wrong if RBI considers such move to tackle the problem of shortage of coins.

Dr.T.V.Gopalakrishnan

( This is in response to write up Traders feel shortage of small coins appeared in The Hindu dated 5/4/13)

Builders Selling Car parks not legal.

	''This is an excellent judgement given by the Consumer forum. Builders are exploiting the hapless buyers of flats by all possible and unimaginable ways. The builders have introduced all sorts of unethical practices and there are no ways of fighting them then and there. They quote some price and subsequently levy additional charges in the form of maintenance expenses the details of which are not made available. They add all sorts of capital expenditures incurred by them to the maintenance accounts and in case some one questions, they are threatened with all their power. Even Corporates Builders who enjoy a good reputation in the market do resort to all unethical ways of accounting hand in glove with their accountants and auditors. Even the Corpus funds collected by the Corporates are diverted for their other units as working capital and the details of interest if any earned are not made available. It is time some regulation is introduced to ensure that the corporates maintain proper accounting of their housing projects and their accounts are audited as per the rules and details made available to the prospective buyers of flats.''
	This comment is in response to an article 'Builders can't sell flat's parking space separately'' that appeared on Times of India dated 4/4/13.

Politicians,Bureaucrats and India's talented Human Resources.

Indians are talented, very resourceful. industrious and competent. They have fantastic ideas to take the country to any level. But what the political system and the bureaucratic system have killed the economy and the enthusiasm of the people is what is not understood by our  people and rulers. They have encouraged corruption, black money, nepotism, inefficiency, sycophancy and spoiled the mood of the people and made them to think that the country has no future and spread negativism. We have wonderful laws but implementation is based on the need of the politicians and bureaucrats to harass innocent, honest and ordinary people who makes some voice against the wrong doings of the Govt. Have any politicians except a very handful of them thought about the damage they have inflicted on the economy and its people. Have they really assessed what are the economic Conditions of the majority. Have they got any real statistics to identify who are really rich and who are poor? Making rhetoric observations can impress for some time but as the saying goes one cannot fool every one every time. Dr.T.V.GThis is in response to Rahul Gandhi's address to CII on the 4th April

RBI and Exchange Rate

RBI has been found very cautious in maintaining the exchange rate stability but its hand are tied and cannot do much to improve the fundamentals of the economy which are dependent on the administrative action and economic reforms from the Govt.GDP growth Inflation Fiscal deficit, and Current account deficit etc are on the wrong side and RBI has been doing its best to pep up these but nothing happens from the Govt side. With all handicaps, the stability of the rupee in the range Rs 53-54 will hope to be maintained as per the economic data.  Dr T.V.Gopalakrishnan (This comment appeared in et dated 2/4/13 in response to anarticle India facing the rupee dilemma)

Dynamic Move of RBI

 This is unbelievable. A most Conservative institution bringing such dynamic changes in tune with the times is most welcome and at this rate wonders can happen in the economy. Of course as far as safety of banking is concerned RBI's conservatism should continue.Dr.T.V.Gopalakrishnan(This comment appeared in Times of India  in response to the article RBI Offers its officers flexible working hours Times dated 2/04/13.)