The relation between the banking sector and the people of Nagaland still cannot be said to be cordial in the last few decades of the coming of the banks to the region. It still has a love-hate relationship with both parties not ready to relent is certain areas. But the onus was and is always on the Banks and the report card indicates it failed the people of the state. The recent comments from the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Dimapur district during a seminar in a college that ‘Banks might have failed Nagaland’s core, needy population’ is quite timely when there have been recent reports of allegations that banks are not fulfilling their duties as required by various policies of the government.
Earlier, the banking sector in Nagaland had one of the most tedious paper works and was like any other government office in the rest of the country. Moreover during those years it was a privilege to have an account in one of the nationalised bank in Nagaland for the common man. Except for the niche group of businessman that too mostly from outside the state and the civil servants it was almost impossible to open a bank account especially with no one to introduce and the long process of getting proper identification. With liberalisation in India and the opening up of the financial sectors for better financial inclusion of the people that attitude of aloofness is slowly changing. The newer banks that started opening branches recently are a bit better but almost all the banks that were already in Nagaland have this unfriendly practice to some extent still now.
When Prime Minister Modi announced the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana in August 2014 a record 1.5 Crore bank accounts were opened across the country on the inaugural day. Bank accounts were then again linked with the Prime Ministers Accidental death Insurance and also the Prime Minister’s Life insurance with nominal premium deduction annually. In Nagaland too it was affected but the performance of the banks in the enrolling people from the remote areas were not satisfactory according to reports. Instead there were complaints of the hidden charges even to get the forms in those areas by those whom the banks assigned for the campaign.Except for the service-linked loans the loans that banks are required to provide for various SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) schemes have become notorious in the state. There are cases of too many politically assisted beneficiaries in some years and negligible implementation of the projects. However most of these loans are subsidised and so the reason for high Non Performing Assets (NPA) in the state that the banks cite may not be wholly true. The reason is that the court summons that are published in the newspapers for loan defaulters will be mostly names from outside the state. There have been reports of people with doubtful origins or suspected illegal immigrants who were able to somehow get documentation to avail loans from banks in Dimapur and later disappeared.
On the other hand there are also the new entrants with the best of customer services but they also come with higher charges; the new private banks. These banks won’t even blink an eye when told that their banks are supposed to provide loans for the various schemes under the government programmes. Moreover it is also doubtful, if these banks conduct any of their Corporate Social Responsibility related activities in the state as required by the Companies Act.
What the banks need to understand is that there are problems that are specific to the state but it is always the duty of the banks to manoeuvre and their presence should be profitable even for the common people, read majority of the people and not just a niche group in the higher echelons of the society. The banks need to also make decisions based on data and facts and not based on the emotions of their employees and the customers as well. There are unique cultural differences that the people from the region may have with the rest of the country that has to be bridged and should not be a deterrent for the banks especially the nationalised banks to perform their responsibilities that they owe to the society.
