This refers to the report “RBI for overhaul of banks’ HR practices” (June 6). Financial inclusion is one of our topmost priorities. All citizens, especially the poor, must have access to formal banking services — and there are no two ways about it. However, it is strange that K C Chakrabarty has questioned the wisdom of public sector banks (PSBs) in rushing to B-schools for recruitments . It is surprising that he questions whether students from top management schools would understand the spirit of financial inclusion drives and whether “these people will have empathy towards the poorest of the poor”.
First, students of finance today are fully aware of the developments in the banking space and are, therefore, apprised of financial inclusion programmes. So, students who opt to appear before PSBs for campus interviews are prepared to go to the rural masses and carry out the job at hand. Second, while financial inclusion is a major focus area for PSBs, there are other areas of importance too — like financial analysis, marketing, HR, treasury management and so on. For these it may be sensible to recruit B-school graduates who have specialised skills. The only drawback is that many of these students eventually leave PSBs for better pay packages. Thus, it would be better to go to mid-level B-schools that also have a large pool of talented and enthusiastic students.
S Ravindranath New Delhi
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