Travails of a bank employee

Finance Minister P.C has recently averred that access to bank is a fundamental right and the citizenry is even counselled to demand for one if it is denied. A bank account is being viewed as the means through which administrative machinery could be made more accountable and its process more transparent. It would entail arresting the pilferage of governmental benefits and also the successive Five Year Plans ideal of inclusive growth. What followed of course is the steep increase in the no. of bank accounts either active or otherwise though over 60% of Indians still lack access to mainstream financial institutions.

At the outset let me discuss (not comprehensively however) the experience of an average Indian in accessing this right. Do we have the prejudice that a bank employee, at the counter particularly, is un-affable and un-humane, who doesn’t heed to our queries, who directs to another counter for any additional information sought, who wouldn’t help in filling the documents, who would break the rule for the powerful and would show extra attention in adhering to it for us? If you don’t, then you are not the average Indian I am talking about and you would well be privileged.

My mom used to say that it takes a complete day if she wishes to pledge a gold ornament in public sector banks whereas private money lenders would make it done within 5 minutes. An average Indian who is just functionally literate is not financially literate and would need assistance to access the mainstream financial institutions. When the personnel through whom he views the institution are unfriendly, he is vulnerable to return back to the parallel economy perpetuated by many of the unscrupulous money lenders.

Let us be informed that SAVING for future is a socially ingrained family value in our nation and estrangement of the general community from mainstream financial institutions would entail the whole economy to lose the opportunity to mobilize their savings. No wonder that SAHARA group was able to mobilize over 15,000 crore of INR mainly from the unbanked classes of the society. However this constructive social value is deteriorating at a larger pace among the CREDIT CARDISED class of people. 

   

With the hitherto mentioned proclivity towards banking system,I had a conversation  with my friend who works in a private bank in Ramanathapuram, recently. I was complaining about the attitude of the majority bank employees and was moved to hear from him and wish to record his perspective.

To a reader from Chennai, Ramanathapuram may be nothing but ‘south side’ which is synonymous for ARRIVAAL, AELAY slang and other prejudices. I remember my Warden and Maths Professor riposting 

SOUTHனா என்ன யாழ்ப்பாணமா ?  to us when we claimed we belong to south.

Geographically the terrain is cursed and is a typical THANNI ILLAATHA KAADU in Tamilnadu. Any service provider posted in this region would view it as a ‘punishment’ post let alone my friend who hails from the prosperous delta region. The inextricable link among geographical features, economic development and social development leaves the region a backward one. Hence without enough local employment opportunities, majority of the households in Ramanathapuram would have at least an individual of theirs emigrate and strive in the West and South East Asia. What follows is the surpassing remittance amount and hence the greater demand for banking services.

Here are his travails.

Since majority of the people hail from weaker sections of society they are not even functionally literate forget about the financial literacy. Many a people don’t even know to count the money and would claim extra amount from the bank hence. My friend seems to have lost cool when a customer claimed 5 bunch of 100 rupee notes amount to 5 lakh rupees. 

The customer was alleged to have said 

"விவரம் தெரியாம பேசாதீங்க தம்பி.உங்களுக்குலாம் எவன் தான் வேலை  தந்தானோ ? " 

Clients, sometime place a lower denomination note in the 100 note bunches either unscrupulously or inadvertently and the counting machine would report “Boss, 100 notes intact”. Blank papers are also placed in such bunches he alleged.

He claimed that he would lose concentration while he is counting money and someone queries him. This would lead him to commit mistake and ultimately monetary lose to him. Every day after the business hours, the employees engage in tallying up the amount and if there is any negative difference they have to pay it from their pocket. But any positive differences GOYYAALA would have to be transferred to the bank’s account.

He said that he had the experience of chasing a person and extracting from him the actual amount for the fake notes he placed in his deposit.  The total lose for him in his banking carrier is around 2000 Rs which may not be a big figure to many albeit. If so I would say again that you are privileged.

He said hence he made his mind to remain cursed by the customers for not replying to their queries instead of losing his salary. Thus he is one of the SIDU MOONJI SATHASIVAM according to his customers.

It seems that his colleague had mistakenly delivered 5 lakh rupees instead of 1 lakh rupee to a customer who had demanded for changing his lower denomination money. Since customers demanding ‘denomination exchange services’ do not fill forms, they don’t have the records of transaction. Unfortunately there was a snag in the CCTV functionality then and the customer couldn’t be traced. So his colleague is paying a loan for the differential 4 lakh rupees, a figure which is his monetised 2 year hard labour.

He also declared that Mondays are the actual monsters for bank employees as the bank-less monetary transactions in the previous two days have to be accounted in the economic system only on Monday. Added to this is the junior-senior politics as in any organisation and the associated attempts to thrust juniors with loads of work by the seniors.

So what else? other than changing my attitude towards bank employees.