“Banking is a service industry, It should serve others before it serves itself”

With Mahatma Gandhi adorning the national currency, his omnipresence in the life of every Indian is an amazing source of inspiration for selfless service which is the essence of Banking. Gandhiji is present in all vaults of Indian banks. Of late, the vaults face fear of losing their contents to ever ballooning NPAs that have touched Rs.15 lac crore mark inclusive of write-offs and provisions. Indian public sector banks alone possess 6.17 trillion Indian rupees in non-performing assets in 2021. This value was much higher, at around 7.5 trillion rupees in the 2019 fiscal year, indicating a slight relief for India's economy in terms of non-paying assets at banks. Some banks have merged to extinguish due to NPAs. 

On the eve of the 152nd birthday of Father of the Nation, who provided us freedom to grow and accomplish dreams, Banks are nervous in paying their respects and rededicating  to the service of the aspirational Indian who has belied the confidence of bankers and let them down. For most of the banks, the customer is no more a king due to severe body blows dealt to banks through loan defaults.

Bapu is a fountainhead of ideological inspiration for Indians bankers. His ideas, teachings and philosophy of life have continued to inspire people over the years. Charismatic personalities like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Albert Einstein and Lal Bahadur Shastri, our former prime minister whose birthdays are also celebrated on this day, have acknowledged the influence of Gandhian thoughts in their life. His teachings and philosophies remain uniquely relevant even today more so for bankers who imbibe inspiration in different aspects of day to day banking operations and compliances. Bapu said, “It is health that is wealth, not pieces of gold and silver”. 

Gandhiji identified Seven Deadly Sins; Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Science without humanity, Knowledge without character, Politics without principle, Commerce without morality and Worship without sacrifice. The words that reverberate in the minds of bankers are; Wealth without work and Commerce without morality. The two sins have captivated starry eyed Indians who have brought banks to the knees on the brim of disaster gasping for life. The irony of the situation is that more Stressed Assets Recovery branches have been opened in the last five years by Indian Banks than loan giving commercial branches.

India is a huge country with a population of over 1.35 billion. Nearly 350,000 bank branches across the country are burning midnight oil in amelioration of the common man. Out of this, 100,000 belong to the Central government. There are around 96,000 rural banks on the local level across the country. Another 1,485 urban cooperative banks have deep networking. Additionally, there are Regional Rural Banks (RRB), foreign banks, private, public sector banks and payment and local area banks. All banks in India are following the Gandhian philosophy of empowering the common man to enable India actualise its potential.

Banks follow the Gandhian values of integrity, importance of means over ends, hard work dedication, fairness, equity, justice, empathy and humaneness, have made Indians better people and the world better. Bankers proudly state,” A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us, we are dependent on him”. The majority of Indian entrepreneurs are faithful in loan repayment and stand with banks to help the downtrodden.

Azim Premji, the 74-year-old business tycoon, one of the richest Indians who has donated his wealth for philanthropic causes, has described the Mahatma's life as "the greatest of inspirations''.  He further said, "It was Mahatma Gandhi who, after my mother, most strongly influenced my thinking and actions on what I should do with the privilege of my wealth, The Mahatma's idea that the wealthy must be trustees of their wealth for the good of the people and the community, has resonated with me from much before I became wealthy. The idea of "trusteeship," unlike other economic ideologies, does not put the rich in the dock for possessing wealth”. Moral rationale behind Gandhiji's idea is that in a world with enormous inequity and injustice & "staggeringly high levels of misery, pain and indignity, wealth must be used to improve the nation.

Indian Banks are one of the few institutions of free India who have followed the ideals of Gandhiji. His advocacy for Indians to go to villages was only followed by Banks who opened umpteen branches in rural areas to empower the poor farmer. Gandhiji advocated the ideals of truth, non-violence and moral values to achieve the ultimate truth of self-realisation. Bankers practice moral values in actualising this dream.

A large number of Indian banks owe their presence to Mahatma Gandhi. Union Bank of India (UBI) was registered on 11 November 1919 as a limited company in Mumbai and was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi. Lala Lajpat Roy popularly known as Punjab Kesri followed Gandhi’s lead and was the first customer of Punjab National Bank, which handled the accounts of prominent leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawahar Lal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi. The bank also handled the account of the Jalianwala Bagh Committee. UCO Bank was opened by industrialist GD Birla at the inspiration of Bapu to provide bill discounting facilities to Indian businessmen. Its New Delhi office had the honour of holding the personal account of Mahatma Gandhi.

Mahatma Gandhi’s life teaches every banker the qualities of incredible patience, self-belief and persistence. Aspiring bankers can draw inspiration from Bapu’s life and lessons, and the virtues he professed in his life can guide towards financial wisdom. 

Four pillars of Indian banking built on Gandhian philosophy are:

Make Investment: Gandhiji said, “The future depends on what you do today”. Keeping the Future in mind, bankers should spread the message of financial discipline of regular savings to bring prosperity to the country.

Avoid High Yield High Risk: Patience and steadiness are important while investing. We should not fall for dubious schemes. There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed.

Trust Your Guts: Mahatma Gandhi said that a living faith will last even in the middle of the blackest storm. We should keep the hope alive even in difficult market conditions and trust our decisions.

Every River Begins From a Small Stream: Mahatma Gandhi  said that it’s important to do things even though they may seem insignificant at the present moment. Inculcate and spread the value of small savings in staff and customers of the bank.

2nd October is also the birthdate of India’s former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. It is said that during the time when Shastri was Prime minister of India, he never used his government car for personal work. In 1964 Lal Bahadur Shastri had to buy Fiat which cost around Rs 12,000 and he had only Rs 7,000 in his bank. Lal Bahadur Shastri took a loan of Rs. 5,000 from Punjab National Bank but soon tragedy struck the family and he passed away in January in 1966.

The loan was paid by his wife from the pension she received after Lal Bahadur Shastri’s death. The Fiat car of 1964 model is now an essential part of the Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial at Motilal Nehru Marg, Delhi.

Gandhian philosophy inculcates great self-discipline, emotional control,  tremendous patience, ability to see as well as persist in the long run and learn from mistakes preparing bankers to  deal with the complexities of a banker's life. So next time a depositor comes to your bank with a bundle of currency notes wondering what to do with it, ask Bapu with the disarming smile peeping out of those notes on how to invest it fire-walling from NPAs to redeem the confidence of millions of progressive Indians. Gandhiji’s teachings provide Bankers a true answer and blessings if loans are given with clean hands to meet genuine needs. Practice Gandhigiri to avoid NPAs.

Rightly said, “Like Mahatma Gandhi, a Banker’s true wealth is the good he has done to his fellowmen.”

(Mr. Hargovind Sachdev has over 39 years of banking experience having occupied senior positions in UCO Bank, United Bank of India, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Travancore & State Bank of India where he headed the Central European Credit Desk at Frankfurt, Germany from 2006 to 2011 covering 15 countries of Central Europe.)