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