Saturday, August 31, 2013

CBI Books Union Bank DGM AGM AND CM On Charges OF Fraud

CBI books UBI Deputy General Manager, 5 others in fraud case--The Hindu 31.08.2013

CBI has booked three former senior officials of Union Bank of India (UBI) and as many directors of a Nagpur-based private company for allegedly causing a loss of over Rs four crore to the bank, the agency officials said on Friday.
The agency has filed a charge sheet in the special court in Nagpur against the then Deputy General Manager, Assistant General Manager at that time, the then Chief Manager of UBI and three directors of a Nagpur-based private firm under charges of criminal conspiracy to cheat and provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act, an CBI spokesperson said.
“It was alleged that officials of UBI had sanctioned and released credit facility to the company and committed criminal breach of trust in respect of the funds of the bank over which they had dominion and cheated the bank,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
During CBI investigation, it came to light that the UBI officials and directors of the company were in criminal conspiracy and had allegedly sanctioned credit limit of Rs three crore to the company which was enhanced subsequently.
“The loan amount sanctioned was diverted/siphoned-off for other than business activity from the account of the said private firm and transferred to the accounts of its sister concern, which resulted in a non performing asset with an outstanding amount of Rs 4.58 crore,” the statement said.

CMD Indian Bank And Ex ED Caught BY CVC

CVC seeks action against Indian bank CMD, ex-ED--Times of India 31.08.2013

NEW DELHI: The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has sought action against Indian Bank CMD T M Bhasin and former ED V Ramgopal for "high-handedness, arbitrariness and manipulation" of appraisal reports of Malay Mukherjee, a general manager in the bank, with a view to deny him a promotion.


While the finance ministry has not initiated action against the two executives, the CVC has also sought action against Shreya Guha, a director in the ministry, for lapses in conducting enquiry against Bhasin and Ramgopal. For the finance ministry, this the second embarrassment in less than a month as the watchdog was critical of the role performed by the Appointments Board in recommending M O Rego for the post of IDBI Bank deputy MD. 

Once again seeking regular departmental action (RDA) against the two top-raking Indian Bank executives, CVC had told the finance ministry that Mukherjee's performance for 2009 had been reviewed by the then ED A S Bhattacharya and M S Sundarrajan, who was then the CMD of the Chennai-headquartered bank. Bhasin and Ramgopal were not required to appraise Mukherjee for 2009-10 as he had not worked with the two executives.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/CVC-seeks-action-against-Indian-bank-CMD-ex-ED/articleshow/22177194.cms

One-year rigorous imprisonment for former CMD of Indian Bank Business Line 23.05.2013

A Principal Special Judge for CBI cases here on Wednesday sentenced the former Chairman and Managing Director of the nationalised Indian Bank, M. Gopalakrishnan (77), to one year’s rigorous imprisonment (RI) and slapped a fine of Rs.1.50 lakh on him in a case relating to causing loss to the bank to the tune of Rs.3.26 crore.
The Judge, S.Malathi, also awarded one year RI to the then Zonal Manager of the bank, A.V.Shanmugasundaram, and two years RI to the Managing Director of a private construction company, S.Dhanasingh, in the case. A total fine of Rs. three lakh was imposed on the two.
The Judge suspended the jail terms for a month to enable the convicted persons to file appeals.
This is the third case in which Gopalakrishnan, against whom 20 cases were registered by the CBI in the mid-1990s, is being convicted in a corruption case. In April 2009, he was sentenced to undergo 14 years’ rigorous imprisonment by a special CBI court in Chennai. The judge awarded two seven-year terms to run one after another.
He is out on bail pending appeal.
While four cases were investigated by Anti-Corruption Branch, the others are with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) and the Bank Security and Fraud Cell (BSFC). All the cases are charge-sheeted and pending trial, agency sources said.
Gopalakrishnan was considered close to influential political leaders during his high-profile tenure. He was prominently covered by Doordarshan almost on a daily basis in news bulletins, giving an impression to viewers that he was highly popular. However, his arrest and subsequent investigation by the CBI led to closer scrutiny of the unusually large number of high-value loans he generously sanctioned to prominent personalities.
In the latest case to end in conviction, the offence was committed between 1993 and 1995. The prosecution case was that Akilam Constructions Pvt. Ltd., Chennai, represented by its Managing Director Dhanasingh, applied to the bank’s Alwarpet branch here for a secured overdraft facility to the tune of Rs. five crore for purchasing 200 acres at Mamallapuram for developing them as farm lands and selling them. Pursuant to a conspiracy to cheat the bank, the bank branch’s Chief Manager, K. Sundaramurthy (died during course of trial), by abusing his official position forwarded the proposal to the regional office recommending sanction.
Shanmugasundaram abused his official position and sent a letter to Gopalakrishnan directly recommending the proposal the same day, August 28, 1995. The Chairman conveyed his approval for sanction without verification. Based on the sanction letter, Sundaramurthy released a temporary OD facility of Rs.3.26 crore to the construction company by accepting inadequate collateral security and disregarding the terms and conditions of sanction.
Dhanasingh, who availed himself of the credit facility of Rs.3.26 crore, diverted Rs.2.86 crore to the account of one M/s Allengar Foundation, represented by K.Anandan Pillai (who also died during the course of trial) without using the loan amount for which it was sanctioned. Pillai, in turn, used the sum to settle his dues in his account in IndBank Housing Limited.
Thus, the bank sustained a loss of Rs.3.26 crore and Dhanasingh and Anandan Pillai obtained pecuniary advantage.
The Judge held that the prosecution had established its case by adducing reliable and satisfactory evidence. As Sundaramuthy and Anandan Pillai had died, the charges against them abated.

Flattery Is the Best Qualification For Promotion

If CBI or CVC conduct investigation into entire promotion process of any bank for last ten years , it will be clear how in each process top executives commits fraud with APAR marks and how numbers are given in interview to pass or to reject an officer . Such manipulation continues and reckless and checkless fraud goes on committed with merit of officers and it is is not new in banks .

 Following news can confirm this because when a General Manager can be promoted on getting one 1 out of 30 marks , one can imagine what he will do with his juniors.And fraudulently promoted officers later become number one Chamcha of bosses and become union leader too so that IR problems is not possible.In this way there is mutual understanding between union leaders and top officers of the bank and finally with ministers and top officers of Government of India 

Click on following link to know about another fraud which occured in last week 
http://dkjain4970901092007.blogspot.in/2013/08/flattery-is-best-qualification-for.html

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Flattery Is the Best Qualification For Promotion

If CBI or CVC conduct investigation into entire promotion process of any bank for last ten years or at least five years  , it will be clear how in each process, top executives commits fraud with APAR marks and how numbers are given in interview to pass or to reject an officer overlooking annual report of the officer . Such manipulation continues and reckless and check-less fraud goes on committed with merit of officers and it is is not new in banks .

http://dkjain4970901092007.blogspot.in/2013/09/see-how-top-executives-get-promotion-in.html


If CBI is entrusted to verify the past records of at least  executives ( say from scale IV to scale VII ) to begin with , if their appraisal markings are verified , if their market report is collected, it will be proved beyond doubt that large scale manipulation in APAR marks in public sector bank is common feature and unrealistic favour in Interview by Interview panel members and fraudulent rejection of good officers have only resulted in elevation of corrupt officers to top post and which promote culture of flattery and bribery only .

Otherwise CBI can verify the past record of those officers who have at their own left taking part in promotion process  in disgust or who have been repeatedly rejected in promotion process for years and decades to find out how they were the best performer but could not get success only because they were not backed by any Godfather at central office.

In India when 186 cumbersome and bulky files pertaining to coal scam are lost , it will not be surprising to hear if files pertaining to APAR are reported lost by bank management.When files pertaining to bank fraud or that of Bad borrowers (NPA borrowers ) can be reported lost , loss of HR related files is very much possible  to save the culprits who manipulated in APAR and Interview markings to promote some and to reject others strictly as per whims and fancies of top officials. 

This is possible in banks only that staff accountability in high value bad loans is never fixed, at least until the real culprit gets retired.If a bad loan accounts involves ten or twenty crore or more , the reason for account going bad is more often than not attributed to global recession or natural calamities and real corrupt officials are absolutely shielded by punishing a few juniors as easy scapegoat.


Following news can confirm this because when a General Manager can be promoted on getting one 1 out of 30 marks , one can imagine what he will do with his juniors.And fraudulently promoted officers later become number one Chamcha of bosses and become union leader too so that IR problems is not possible.In this way there is mutual understanding between union leaders and top officers of the bank and finally with ministers and top officers of Government of India.

As long as Field functionaries are  unhappy, one cannot dream of any reduction in bad assets. Rather volume of bad assets will go on rise because inefficient and frustrated officers sitting at key post such as Branch head or Regional Head of a bank or zonal or central head of the bank. This is why bank reports recovery of Rs.100 from bad assets and simultaneously report slippage of Rs.200 to bad assets category.Quality of Credit processing is moving from bad to worse despite the fact that bank management always claim that they have dynamic training system and merit oriented promotion policies .



CMD Indian Bank And Ex ED Caught BY CVC

CVC seeks action against Indian bank CMD, ex-ED--Times of India 31.08.2013

NEW DELHI: The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has sought action against Indian Bank CMD T M Bhasin and former ED V Ramgopal for "high-handedness, arbitrariness and manipulation" of appraisal reports of Malay Mukherjee, a general manager in the bank, with a view to deny him a promotion.


While the finance ministry has not initiated action against the two executives, the CVC has also sought action against Shreya Guha, a director in the ministry, for lapses in conducting enquiry against Bhasin and Ramgopal. For the finance ministry, this the second embarrassment in less than a month as the watchdog was critical of the role performed by the Appointments Board in recommending M O Rego for the post of IDBI Bank deputy MD. 

Once again seeking regular departmental action (RDA) against the two top-raking Indian Bank executives, CVC had told the finance ministry that Mukherjee's performance for 2009 had been reviewed by the then ED A S Bhattacharya and M S Sundarrajan, who was then the CMD of the Chennai-headquartered bank. Bhasin and Ramgopal were not required to appraise Mukherjee for 2009-10 as he had not worked with the two executives.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/CVC-seeks-action-against-Indian-bank-CMD-ex-ED/articleshow/22177194.cms

One-year rigorous imprisonment for former CMD of Indian Bank Business Line 23.05.2013

A Principal Special Judge for CBI cases here on Wednesday sentenced the former Chairman and Managing Director of the nationalised Indian Bank, M. Gopalakrishnan (77), to one year’s rigorous imprisonment (RI) and slapped a fine of Rs.1.50 lakh on him in a case relating to causing loss to the bank to the tune of Rs.3.26 crore.
The Judge, S.Malathi, also awarded one year RI to the then Zonal Manager of the bank,A.V.Shanmugasundaram, and two years RI to the Managing Director of a private construction company, S.Dhanasingh, in the case. A total fine of Rs. three lakh was imposed on the two.
The Judge suspended the jail terms for a month to enable the convicted persons to file appeals.
This is the third case in which Gopalakrishnan, against whom 20 cases were registered by the CBI in the mid-1990s, is being convicted in a corruption case. In April 2009, he was sentenced to undergo 14 years’ rigorous imprisonment by a special CBI court in Chennai. The judge awarded two seven-year terms to run one after another.
He is out on bail pending appeal.
While four cases were investigated by Anti-Corruption Branch, the others are with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) and the Bank Security and Fraud Cell (BSFC). All the cases are charge-sheeted and pending trial, agency sources said.
Gopalakrishnan was considered close to influential political leaders during his high-profile tenure. He was prominently covered by Doordarshan almost on a daily basis in news bulletins, giving an impression to viewers that he was highly popular. However, his arrest and subsequent investigation by the CBI led to closer scrutiny of the unusually large number of high-value loans he generously sanctioned to prominent personalities.
In the latest case to end in conviction, the offence was committed between 1993 and 1995. The prosecution case was that Akilam Constructions Pvt. Ltd., Chennai, represented by its Managing Director Dhanasingh, applied to the bank’s Alwarpet branch here for a secured overdraft facility to the tune of Rs. five crore for purchasing 200 acres at Mamallapuram for developing them as farm lands and selling them. Pursuant to a conspiracy to cheat the bank, the bank branch’s Chief Manager, K. Sundaramurthy (died during course of trial), by abusing his official position forwarded the proposal to the regional office recommending sanction.
Shanmugasundaram abused his official position and sent a letter to Gopalakrishnan directly recommending the proposal the same day, August 28, 1995. The Chairman conveyed his approval for sanction without verification. Based on the sanction letter, Sundaramurthy released a temporary OD facility of Rs.3.26 crore to the construction company by accepting inadequate collateral security and disregarding the terms and conditions of sanction.
Dhanasingh, who availed himself of the credit facility of Rs.3.26 crore, diverted Rs.2.86 crore to the account of one M/s Allengar Foundation, represented by K.Anandan Pillai (who also died during the course of trial) without using the loan amount for which it was sanctioned. Pillai, in turn, used the sum to settle his dues in his account in IndBank Housing Limited.
Thus, the bank sustained a loss of Rs.3.26 crore and Dhanasingh and Anandan Pillai obtained pecuniary advantage.
The Judge held that the prosecution had established its case by adducing reliable and satisfactory evidence. As Sundaramuthy and Anandan Pillai had died, the charges against them abated.

Flattery Is the Best Qualification For Promotion

If CBI or CVC conduct investigation into entire promotion process of any bank for last ten years , it will be clear how in each process top executives commits fraud with APAR marks and how numbers are given in interview 
Despite 1/30 marks, 4 bankers set to be EDs-

Times of India 27th August 2013

NEW DELHI: Can you get a job after securing one mark out of 30 in an interview? Yes, if you are an aspirant for the job of an executive director (ED) in a public sector bank. 

The finance ministry has recommended appointing four general managers of state-run banks as executive directors, on promotion, despite the candidates managing to barely open their accounts during an interview conducted by a panel headed by financial services secretary Rajiv Takru. 
An ED is part of the top management of a bank and a level below the bank chairman and managing director. 


4 bankers recommended for post of executive director in PSU banks despite scoring just 1 out of 30 marks An ED is part of a bank's top management, just a level below the bank chairman and managing director All 4 bankers had earlier scored full marks in their annual confidential reports 

Panel foxed by low scores of 4 general managers 

After interviews by a committee in June and July, the finance ministry sent a list of bankers for appointment as executive directors, including four who had secured one mark. 

This included B S Rama Rao, general manager in Andhra Bank who is to be appointed as executive director of Vijaya Bank, Atul Agarwal (Central Bank of India GM to Indian Overseas Bank ED), Mahesh Jain (Syndicate Bank GM to Indian Bank ED) and RK Takkar (from Oriental Bank of Commerce general manager to Dena Bank ED). 

The Reserve Bank of India governor heads the appointment board, which interviews candidates for top jobs in public sector banks including those for posts of CMD and executive director. Often, if the governor can't attend the meeting, a sub-committee headed by the financial services secretary shortlists the candidates. The other members of the panels include one of the four RBI deputy governors and two external experts, which includes a professor from an Indian Institute of Management. 

How the four general managers managed to score so low in the interview is something that has even foxed the appointments committee of cabinet, given their track record. Four bankers had scored full marks based on their annual confidential reports or appraisal done by their bosses. 



IDBI top job under CVC lens 

The Central Vigilance Commission has pulled up the Appointments Board headed by RBI governor and its sub-committee chaired by the financial services secretary for recommending that IDBI Bank executive director MO Rego be appointed the bank's deputy managing director. 

The observations came after it emerged that the Rego was given 10 marks each for his annual appraisals for 2007-08 and 2008-09 based on ratings of 4.1 for each of the years. 

As reported by TOI on December 4, the finance ministry was pushing Rego's case after the Appointments Board marked him as the top choice for the DMD's job at IDBI Bank. The personnel department, however, wrote to the finance ministry pointing out certain shortcomings. It said that during 2007-08 and 2008-09, Rego's work had been praised, but the rating had not been changed. 

The financial services department, however, upgraded the ratings from "very good" to "outstanding" and gave him a score of 70 instead of 66, which had also been given to another candidate who was a contender for the job. The personnel department said that the selection panel may have been influenced by the finance ministry's rating.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Despite-1/30-marks-4-bankers-set-to-be-EDs/articleshow/22084750.cms










Sunday, August 25, 2013

Shortage of Proper Manpower In Public Sector Banks

Public sector banks faces shortage of 56,000 employees-Financial Express 25.08.2013


Public sector banks face a shortage of 56,022 personnel across various cadres and the lenders are at different stages of filling these posts, official sources said.
In the officer category, 25 public sector banks have 23,794 vacancies as of March, 2013. Of this, 5,815 officer level posts are in Bank of Baroda (BoB) only, sources said.
Syndicate Bank has 1,500 vacancies of officer level posts. Andhra Bank is facing a shortage of 1,484 officers. The number for the same in Bank of India is 1,473. Allahabad Bank needs to hire 1,450 officers, Punjab & Sind Bank 1,454 and Punjab National Bank 1,119.
With regard to vacancies in the clerical cadre, sources said that as many as 22,347 posts are vacant in various banks including five associate banks of State Bank of India (SBI).
Bank of Baroda tops the list with as many as 3,615 vacancies. It is followed by Allahabad Bank with 2,627 vacancies, while State Bank of Tranvancore has 2,500 vacant positions at the end of 2012-13.
Vacant of post of clerks in Punjab National Bank is about 2,200 while in case of Bank of India it is 1,468.
At sub-staff level, sources said there are 9,881 vacant posts.
In the current fiscal, public sector banks are going to hire 50,000 employees.
"This year, public sector banks are expected to add 10,000 branches of which 2,000 are to be by Regional Rural Banks. Correspondingly, there will be recruitment. In fact, all the banks put together are expected to recruit some 50,000 persons in the current year," Finance
Minister P Chidambaram had said after meeting heads of PSU banks in June.
In 2012-13, public sector banks hired around 63,000 persons. India's largest bank State Bank of India (SBI) alone recruited 20,000 clerical staff and 1,200 officer-level employees. Other PSU banks hired 22,000 officers and 20,000 clerical staff.

Seeking to improve manpower management in the public sector banks, the Finance Ministry had recently said that 19 nationalised banks should have a total number of 442 GMs to oversee banking operations.

Supreme Court Also Holds Campus Recruitment As Illegal AND Unconstitutional

SC trashes Central Bank plea against HC ruling- Times of India 26th August 2013



Monday, August 12, 2013

VIP Culture In India -----You Must Read AND Share With Others

Even on visit of a top bank official , crores of rupees are spent and hundreds of man hours are wasted in managing visit of a top bank official at a place by subordinates but unfortunately after wasting their valuable energy in flattery and late sitting ,majority  of the juniors do not have adequate time left and do not have  enough energy left  so that he or she can use available knowledge  to serve their  organisation in profitable manner . 


It is all because top officials want only flattery and bribery from their juniors and not the real performance at field level.


Similarly VIPs in all government offices aspire to receive grand welcome by their subordinates when they visit their locations, not the real output for which juniors are meant for.


India is sick only because of this flattery culture.Workers are least bothered of their performance because they know it will not bear any fruit even if they work hard. But if they become number one Yes Man of boss , he may get even what is normally impossible. If the boss is happy , promotion and posting may be as per choice otherwise one has to face music as Mr. Khemka or Ms Durga Nagpal like IAS officers face.

Here in below is an excellent write up contributed by one of viewers of my blog.


See True Democracy in Action.

JOGISHWAR SINGH

 

As a Swiss citizen born in India, I am many times brought to think about my experiences of the democratic systems prevalent in the two countries. 

Before Indian ‘patriots’ start screaming murder at what I am going to say, I should point out that I am fully aware that I am talking about two different historical realities. 

Switzerland has been independent for over 800 years while India is a newly created entity, now a mere 66 years old. 

Switzerland has a population of only 8 million while India has the second highest population of any country in the world at over 1.2 billion (give or take a few million). And expected, in the near future, to even outstrip China, and become the world’s most populous. 

The trigger for this set of reflections was what I saw on the 7.30 pm evening news on Swiss TV a couple of weeks ago. 

The Swiss President, Mr Ueli Maurer, was leaving on a five day state visit to China. The news showed him arriving at Zürich airport in an ordinary private vehicle. The President got out of the car by opening the car door himself. He walked to the nearby baggage trolley stand outside the airport entrance. He took a baggage trolley out, rolled it towards the car, lifted his suitcase and travel bag himself, put these on the trolley which he then rolled towards the entrance like any passenger lambda like you or me. He walked up to the check in counter with just two other persons walking behind him. He checked his luggage in for a commercial flight without any special treatment being meted out to him.

For any Indians (or others) who might find it difficult to believe what I have described above, you can CLICK on the link provided hereunder, at the end of this article, to view a TV news clip from the evening prime time news for July 16, 2013..

You’ll get visual proof of the Swiss President’s arrival at the airport, his check in for his state visit to China and a short interview with a TV journalist. This clip is really worth watching.

Conditioned by my personal experiences of dealing with politicians and government ministers in India while serving as an IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officer, I was so struck by the contrast between what I had experienced in India and what I was seeing on the TV screen that I told my wife that this represented one of the finest examples of democracy for me, certainly of the Swiss variety. It made me proud to be the citizen of a country where the serving President behaves like an ordinary citizen and does not feel the need to consider  special privileged treatment as his divine birthright

I remembered the countless times when I had seen the fury of Indian politicians, much below the level of the President of a country, at what they considered as a slight because they had not been treated as demi-gods.

I am not a psychologist. I do not know whether centuries of slavery have generated this distorted VIP culture in India but I remember that we all did curse the politicians there for causing so much inconvenience to the general public by expecting, demanding and getting privileged treatment. 

Who in India, except maybe some politicians or bureaucrats, has not been inconvenienced by VIP visits for which miles of roads and highways, even entire neighbourhoods, are blocked off to traffic, and flights are delayed, awaiting the arrival of some VIP or even his/her flunkies/family members? 

Any such inconvenience would cause an uproar in Switzerland

In India, it does not generate even a whimper.

In this context, an incident from the not very distant past strongly lingers in my memory. A few years ago, a former IAS batch-mate of mine (1976 batch) had visited Switzerland. 

I have noticed that Switzerland becomes a prize destination of choice for a lot of Indian ministers and bureaucrats during their hot summer for attending all kinds of useless conferences which are essentially talking shops organised by the United Nations, an organisation which is a hotbed of nepotism and inefficiency.

This IAS officer wanted to see Switzerland, so I acted as his local tourist guide. 

While we were going around the Swiss federal capital, Bern, it was lunch time so we decided to have lunch at a restaurant very close to the Swiss parliament building. 

As we took our seats at a table, a Swiss gentleman sitting at the next table, reading his newspaper while sipping his coffee, greeted us in English. While we ordered our meal and waited, he finished reading his newspaper, drank his coffee and called for his bill which he paid before leaving. While going out, he again politely wished us goodbye, even saying, “I hope you enjoy your stay in Switzerland” in English.

After he had left, I asked my visitor if he knew who the man had been. Obviously, my visitor did not know the answer. I informed him that we had just been greeted by the then serving Swiss President, Mr René Felber. 

My guest thought I was making fun of him. He would not believe me so I called the restaurant manager to confirm the veracity of what I had told him. The manager duly confirmed what I had said. 

My Indian visitor was flabbergasted. He said, “How can this be possible? He actually paid his bill before leaving”. 

So, what struck my visitor the most had been the fact that a VIP had actually paid his bill! I wonder what he would say if he saw our current President, Mr Ueli Maurer, personally loading his bags on to a baggage trolley and wheeling it to a check-in counter just like any ordinary citizen. His disbelief could only be countered by visual evidence on the TV!

My visitor’s reaction brought back memories of when, as a serving sub-divisional or district level official, I had been called upon to organise lunches and dinners for numerous collections of freeloaders travelling with ministers or bureaucrats in India. 

I seldom remember any politician or bureaucrat actually paying or even offering to pay for the bonanza laid out for them. Those who did offer to pay, did so at the ridiculously low official daily fare of eleven rupees (today, a mere 20 cents US) per person or something like that. 

Nobody ever asked how it had been possible to lay out a lavish meal comprising several dishes, accompanied by expensive alcoholic beverages, for such a petty sum. I never found out myself who used to pay for all this extravaganza at the end of the line. 

Like a good Indian bureaucrat, I just used to pass the buck down the line to my junior magistrates and revenue officials. To this day, I am unable to clarify which poor victim -- read, citizen! -- who got stuck with paying for all the freebies on offer.

While working as chief of staff to the President of the Swiss Commission for the Presence of Switzerland in Foreign Countries many years ago, I had the chance of accompanying him to Strasbourg for meetings of the Council of Europe. I also had the privilege of close interaction with several Swiss members of parliament over an extended period of 12 to 14 months. 

The contrast to the behavioural pattern of what I had experienced in India with politicians was so stark that it has stayed seared in my mind even till today. 

I am by no means suggesting that Swiss politicians are angels but the kind of behaviour that Indian politicians or bureaucrats get away with as a matter of routine in India would torpedo their careers in Switzerland in a jiffy.

Each such incident deepens my gratitude to Waheguru Almighty for having made me settle down in a country like Switzerland where the President carries his own bags to the check-in counter. 

Where no roads are blocked for hours so that some VIP can, in the name of security, be whisked around in convoys of official vehicles. 

Where politicians and bureaucrats pay their bills in restaurants. 

Where grossly sycophantic behaviour is not the general and accepted norm. 

Where no red-light beacons or screaming sirens signal the passage of VIP vehicles. Indeed, the red-light-beacon culture of officialdom in India merits a full story in itself.

I might accept India as a true democracy the day I see its President or Prime Minister behaving like the Swiss President before his departure on an official visit abroad. 

I don’t think I will ever see such a sight in India during my lifetime.

You think, maybe, my grandchildren will?

To view the TV news-clip, please CLICK  below.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Proposed Increase In Retirement AGE

In my opinion it will be the greatest blunder on the part of the government if they  under financial pressure or political pressure decide to increase retirement age of central government  or bank employees . Such suicidal step may please retiring employees for two years but  will spoil the career and lives of those young unemployed youth who are in search of job since long.

It is a bitter and undeniable truth that government has completely failed to create job opportunities for educated youth and it is only the vacancies created after retirement of existing employees that job opportunities are created .Total number of employees in public sector banks was about 9 lac in the year 1998 and at the end  of the year 2011 the same was about 8 lac. It means there was almost a  fall of 15 % in staff strength in a span of 13 years whereas number of branches doubled during the same period and business grew by 30 times.

As such Extension of retiring age will further snatch away the opportunities of employment which could arise out of retirement of employee at the age of 60. 

If the government is really solve the problem of unemployment in the country they should make all efforts to create new jobs and make the education purely job oriented and as long as this task is not completed they should not try to curtail job opportunities likely to be created on account of retirement. 

Rather It will be a great help to unemployed youth if the retirement age of existing employees is brought down to 58 or 55 or even 50. Because employees who have worked for 15 or 30 or even 35 and 40 years , they have at least adequate money in the account on account of terminal benefits and pension benefits which accrue after retirement and hence they can manage their and their family expenses. 

But unemployed youth who do not get job at right age become victim of frustration and depression and in some cases they even adopt crime and criminal activities and some even opt for suicide.As such rise in unemployment in the country will prove fatal and destructive and further boost graph of crime.

It is important to mention here that not only students of families of businessmen or professionals , even children of employees of central or state government or that of banks are not getting job even after having prominent degrees in hand.

Therefore It is the duty of employees who are on the verge of retirement to retire voluntarily at the age of 50 or 55 or 58 but do not insist for increase in retirement age from 60 to 65. On the other hand it is the duty of the government to give some  motivational benefits to those employees who voluntarily decided to leave the job at age less than 60.  

Even if the government offer voluntary retirement scheme to working employees , the government will gain a lot by employing fresh youth at comparatively lower pay.In this way existing employees, unemployed youth and the government as employer , all will be in win win position.Besides government will get an opportunity to get rid of unwilled, sick and unskilled staff and in return get fresh and energetic new youth.

There may be exceptionally  few talented , highly skilled,experienced and intelligent employees whose existence is very much useful and whose removal may prove costly to employer , some specific scheme may be framed to reemploy them but with transparent policy only.

However ,Any delegated power or absolute power to any top boss of any company or government department or Head of any bank or to any person in India results in misuse of power and may give rise to whimsical reemployment and the same  will become the unavoidable practice as has been happening in the case of recruitment and promotion and posting in almost all banks and all government offices.

Cabinet decision to increase retirement age deferred-Business Standard

The government may make the anouncement in the Prime Minister's 15 August address
A proposal to increase the retirement age of government employees from 60 to 62 years came to the Cabinet on Thursday but a decision was deferred. The government might make the announcement in the Prime Minister’s Independence Day address, his last before general elections in 2014. The ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions has proposed an increase in retirement age of government employees from 60 to 62 years, top sources confirmed.

There are around five million central government employees in India. The previous occasion the government raised the retirement age of central government employees was in 1998, from 58 to 60 years. The move is meant to ease the financial burden on the government in terms of its pension liabilities, sources said.

The retirement age of professors in all central universities was recently raised to 65 years. D L Sachdev, national secretary of the All India Trade Union Congress, said his union was totally against the increase of the retirement age beyond 60. It would hurt the youth, especially when the government is doing nothing to create jobs for them, Sachdev said.

Congress-affiliated Indian National Trade Union Congress national president Sanjeeva Reddy said his union had been demanding increase in the retirement age to 62 years and would welcome it.

Minister for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions V Narayanaswami had ruled out an increase in the retirement age to a question in Parliament in the winter session this year. An official in the ministry, when asked, refused to speak about it.