Get People and their Economic activities connected to banking.

The Indian banking is weak because of dominance of informal economy, inequality of incomes and wealth, laxity of Governance at various levels of administration and presence of middlemen, indigenous bankers, money lenders and NBFCs of all kinds. The banking scenario is changing fast and middle class who save in banks have no money to save because of all sorts of taxes which do not seem to be getting accounted anywhere other than to those who levy them. The banks also lose heavily because of their dependence on Technology , Non human approach, and not understanding the customers. The taxation policies of the government and the ease of doing business are not favouring or encouraging any one to attract to any economic activity. The data collection in the country is erroneous and do not seem to be reflecting the correct position of employment, generation of economic activities and productive assets. Banks can thrive only if people and their economic activities get  fully connected to banking. 

Dr T V Gopalakrishnan

India needs politicians to develop strong Institutions

Very forthright views well brought out by Iyer. Politicians cannot appreciate and they do not want to appreciate to have strong institutions as they come in their way of free and easy funds as and when needed. PSBs are a source of funds to meet social obligations and to have continued support by allowing crony capitalism. Dr Rajan intelligently attempted to stop these which was not taken in right spirit by the politicians in power who have their own axe to grind. politicians are always shrewd and professionals' intelligence and expertise cannot be tolerated by them. Dr Rajan lacked diplomacy to handle the politicians and bureaucrats because of his lack of professional experience in indian context as some of his predecessors and this cost him heavily though professionally he is not a loser .The loss is for india and its financial system. 

Dr T V Gopalakrishnan

(This comment appeared in ET against the article this government has shot itself in the foot).

Even high ranked professionals should know the political minds

A very balanced view reflecting the in and out of the PMs office.Compared to Dr Y V Reddy, Dr Rajan perhaps lacked the diplomacy to understand the politicians' mind and act. That is because of his long absence in India and lack of experience being in Indian Administrative Set up. Any way Dr Rajan should have been allowed to continue based on his, brilliance and expertise as an Economist and professional performance and achievements brought to the Financial System in his very short stint as Governor of RBI irrespective of his personal liasoning with the political and administrative set up. Definitely the country lost an Expert's skill in handling the murky and complicated financial system. His frank and open opinions have not been taken in the right spirit by certain political masters, is a fact and it is a lesson for all professionals to seriously ponder before they accept a senior Government assignment. Their life becomes miserable if they fail to dance to the tunes of the politicians in power.

Dr T V Gopalakrishnan
(This comment is in response to an article the numbers RBI Governor did not get : 282 in 2014 that appeared in First Post dated 22/6/16)

Even high ranked professionals should know the political minds

A very balanced view reflecting the in and out of the PMs office.Compared to Dr Y V Reddy, Dr Rajan perhaps lacked the diplomacy to understand the politicians mind and act. That is because of his long absence in India and lack of experience being in Indian administrative set up. Any way Dr Rajan should have been allowed to continue based on his, brilliance and expertise as an Economist and professional performance and achievements brought to the Financial System in his very short stint as Governor of RBI irrespective of his personal liasoning with the political set up. Definitely the country lost an Expert's skill in handling the murky and complicated financial system.

Dr T V Gopalakrishnan
(This comment is in response to an article the numbers RBI Governor did not get : 282 in 2014 that appeared in First Post dated 22/6/16)

A very balanced views reflecting the in and out of the PMs office.Compared to Dr Y V Reddy, Dr Rajan perhaps lacked the diplomacy to understand the politicians mind and act. That is because of his long absence in India and lack of experience being in Indian administrative set up. Any way Dr Rajan should have been allowed to continue based on his, brilliance and expertise as an Economist and professional performance and achievements brought to the Financial System in his very short stint as Governor of RBI irrespective of his personal liasoning with the political set up. Definitely the country lost an Expert's skill in handling the murky and complicated financial system.

Dr T V Gopalakrishnan
(This comment is in response to an article the numbers RBI Governor did not get : 282 in 2014 that appeared in First Post dated 22/6/16)

No one is indispensable but,

No one is  indispensable including the NDA Government and its veteran MPS. But a performer and a non performer needs to be identified and discriminated. Just because Dr Rajan was appointed by the UPA Government and he was brought in by Mr Chidambaram then Finance Minister who happens to be the enemy of the present Government , Rajan should leave his post does not stand reason and sound decent and it only smacks of intolerance of a person who is a friend of the enemy. Dr Rajan is a professional and  an expertise having excelled in his field of economics and Finance with international recognition and his continuance as Chief of the Central bank of the Country carries image and  only adds  weight for the economy in the international markets . The Government in power  cannot  afford to be so narrow minded and  encourage  personal vendetta and  prejudices against a person who has an outstanding record par excellence and has been doing a commendable job with wonderful results to be very proud of as a growing economy with all sorts of complexities. The loss is substantial and it may take some time to make up provided an equally competent person comes and takes on the challenges.  All said, a highly talented professional cannot take political side when he performs his responsibilities occupying a sensitive post.  

Dr T V Gopalakrishnan

An Honourable and glorious exit Well Done Dr Rajan

Dr Rajan has taken the right decision to quit. Better to be away from politicians as otherwise one will lose ones' personal integrity, individuality and dignity. This is what happened to Dr M M SINGH a great academician well known Economist and a professional of very high calibre.If he had retired after his first term as PM, history would have treated him kindly and honourably. Being part of politics, he lost all his  glory of academic and other professional achievements in public perception at least. Now Dr Rajan will be remembered for his short stint as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and the excellent contribution he made to the economy and the financial system as well.  His decision to quit without waiting for an extension to keep himself away from politics and  be back in academia leaving all the glories of being attached to an institution which has no autonomy or independence from political powers is really marvellous and a great lesson to those  who care for values in life more than anything else . Good that he right royally decided to quit making many to ponder particularly  by a few bright minds  among the political class. No glory or fame at the cost of personal dignity and self respect  is worth having is what Dr Rajan has demonstrated with his present decision. Dr Rajan came,conquered and left after leaving a permanent impression on his professional achievements and personal values worth recalling for ever. He created his own history to be recorded in Golden Letters  in the history of RBI as and when written in the future.

Wish him the very best for all his future ventures with his bright and unique ideas.

Dr T V Gopalakrishnan 

This refers to goof up in Bank Of Baroda  in respect Of Vijay Mallya's loan guarantee appeared in Money Life dated 10/6/2105.

It is unbelievable that  bank officials do not apply their mind when letters are issued , do not think on the subject matter and do not have any sense of the sensitivity of the subject. Vijay Mallya and his banks' dealings have been in the news for quite some time and officials involved in dealing with such sensational cases are completely ignorant of all these when follow up actions are initiated is something strange.  From my experience, the banks' officials at several levels have no knowledge of both inside and outside developments in banking and they have no reading habit. They some how manage to do their daily routine work mechanically without any understanding of what they do . The technology has also become handy .This is perhaps one of the major reasons why the banks fail to transmit the monetary policy as except perhaps the top management and some senior level officials many do not understand the objectives of monetary policy , the role of credit in an economy, the implications of interest rates, etc. With the invasion of technology, the banking has undergone a sea change but the absence of human intervention essential to run banks efficiently and effectively has been creating catastrophe and needs to be fixed. Things were better when the banks officials used to have exposure to Central Bank training in Bankers Training College, Mumbai. Now the ground reality is that except the top management and some officials who take some personal interest to keep themselves up to date about the developments of economy , banking and finance , others have no knowledge even of the Presence of Reserve Bank of India,(RBI), leave alone the entire banking scenario, the advantages of having an effective credit management for the banks and the economy etc. Unfortunately ,RBI has also ignored the need to enhance knowledge, skill and expertise among bank officials. The stress was on the Risk management without understanding and recognising the major risk on banks through human resources. The greatest risk bank face these days is not on account of stressed assets but on account of human resources . Knowledge of banking is virtually absent among many a bank officials and unless and until this is adequately addressed, more such goofs can be seen in banks . But making the tax payers and depositors to foot the bill and make up for all the losses banks incur is too much and this cannot go on for ever. Many such goofs are hidden and the balance sheets are fudged and covered up.

Dr T V Gopalakrishnan

Protect the banks from bad borrowers

Any move to protect the banks from bad borrowers at the cost of tax payers and depositors can only weaken the banks , the economy and the financial system. The approach should be to professionalise the banks, discipline the borrowers, discourage bad borrowers from smartly looting the banks, encourage good borrowers, strengthen the bond market enabling project financing with long term capital funds,and improve the ease of doing business without any sort of corrupt practices generally found everywhere. Enhance general standards of ethics and corporate Governance in the system to better the results everywhere.

Dr T V Gopalakrishnan

Is there any service from Banks to Customers?

The shoddy treatment meted out to customers  by banks is with the approval of top management of banks is what the experience tells. In good old days, one can write to higher ups and seek some redressal of the complaints. One can visit branches and speak to some one who knows the customer ,understands the Customer , knows the importance of the customer and has some concern for the customer. But with the invasion of technology, the personal touch is given a go bye and neither the customer nor the bank officials know how to deal with the complaints . KYC is literally reduced to killing your customers and avoiding him by all means by insisting on certain documents which he may or may not be able to produce. Even insistence of Gazetted officers signature is not given up although the new Government under Mr Modi on his taking over as PM announced the need for such attestations. I recently approached ICICI Direct with a request to transfer one of the investments of my late father to my account producing all required documents as per the checklist made available to me which include affidavit from a notary stating that i am son of so and so who is dead . I also attested the death certificate of my father as a retired bank official with my designation but the official insisted for a gazetted officer's signature on the death certificate. Luckily good sense prevailed on him as he did not insist on my late father's own self attestation in his presence. This is the level of understanding and knowledge on the part of officials. Common sense and logic have no role to play and only documents as per the checklist are the guiding principles to render some service. An NRI made a request in writing to close her D mat account and submitted to ICICI bank but even after a lapse of almost two years the account is not closed as the bank wants her personal presence in the branch to close the account though the NRI is based in US and has requested over phone to close the account as per the letter submitted. The bank wants the NRI to be personally present in Bannerghatta Road ICICI Bank branch to close her D mat account , though she is residing in Dallas, Texas. 

Less said the better about the deterioration of Customer service in banks. The ground reality is that Customers succumb to the fait accompli and silently suffer as there is no meaningful and reliable grievance mechanism. Rights of Customers are all there on paper but customers should have the capacity to endure with all insults, inefficient and shoddy treatment . Be ready to mentally, physically and financially suffer is the motto the Customers should learn and endure with to have dealings with the banks whether they are in the private sector or in the public sector. Contacts and influence helps to some extent but again it depends on banks. Many ICICI bank fellows even do not know that there is a regulator called Reserve Bank of India. May be the same with many a new generation private sector banks. Knowledge of banking is gradually disappearing among the bank officials is the sad part and the importance of customers for banks survival is practically unknown to many a staff.

The shoddy treatment meted out to customers  by banks is with the approval of top management of banks is what the experience tells. In good old days, one can write to higher ups and seek some redressal of the complaints. One can visit branches and speak to some one who knows the customer ,understands the Customer , knows the importance of the customer and has some concern for the customer. But with the invasion of technology, the personal touch is given a go bye and neither the customer nor the bank officials know how to deal with the complaints . KYC is literally reduced to killing your customers and avoiding him by all means by insisting on certain documents which he may or may not be able to produce. Even insistence of Gazetted officers signature is not given up although the new Government under Mr Modi on his taking over as PM announced the need for such attestations. I recently approached ICICI Direct with a request to transfer one of the investments of my late father to my account producing all required documents as per the checklist made available to me which include affidavit from a notary stating that i am son of so and so who is dead . I also attested the death certificate of my father as a retired bank official with my designation but the official insisted for a gazetted officer's signature on the death certificate. Luckily good sense prevailed on him as he did not insist on my late father's own self attestation in his presence. This is the level of understanding and knowledge on the part of officials. Common sense and logic have no role to play and only documents as per the checklist are the guiding principles to render some service. An NRI made a request in writing to close her D mat account and submitted to ICICI bank but even after a lapse of almost two years the account is not closed as the bank wants her personal presence in the branch to close the account though the NRI is based in US and has requested over phone to close the account as per the letter submitted. The bank wants the NRI to be personally present in Bannerghatta Road ICICI Bank branch to close her D mat account , though she is residing in Dallas, Texas. 

Less said the better about the deterioration of Customer service in banks. The ground reality is that Customers succumb to the fait accompli and silently suffer as there is no meaningful and reliable grievance mechanism. Rights of Customers are all there on paper but customers should have the capacity to endure with all insults, inefficient and shoddy treatment . Be ready to mentally, physically and financially suffer is the motto the Customers should learn and endure with to have dealings with the banks whether they are in the private sector or in the public sector. Contacts and influence helps to some extent but again it depends on banks. Many ICICI bank fellows even do not know that there is a regulator called Reserve Bank of India. May be the same with many a new generation private sector banks. Knowledge of banking is gradually disappearing among the bank officials is the sad part and the importance of customers for banks survival is practically unknown to many a staff.