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Bankers should make prudent use of alerts through various technology-driven tools, MIS and warning signals that are available in the Core Banking System (CBS) to thwart frauds, said TM Bhasin, Chief Vigilance Commissioner.
Speaking after inaugurating Indian Bank’s new zonal office at Tirupati, he said that in some instances oral instructions by senior officials were found to be the culprit, and he made it clear that bank officials should learn to say “No” when something is not doable and when they don’t understand an area of activity proposed to be financed.
He further advised bankers to avoid ‘conflict of interest’ and have sound risk-management practices in place to safeguard against NPAs (non-performing assets) and frauds.
He urged the bankers, especially the honest ones, not to the fear 3Cs — the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG).
Key policy decisionsBhasin told bankers to overcome this fear psychosis and to instil confidence in the minds of officials. The CVC, he said, has laid down certain policy decisions, such as: not taking cognisance of anonymous/pseudonymous complaints which used to be an irritant for the officials earlier; dispensing with the practice of calling factual reports, which used to be a source of harassment to officials earlier; dispensing with joint meetings in case of difference of opinion between the CBI and Disciplinary Authority for grant of sanction for prosecution; and doing away with seeking-second stage advice of the Commission in cases where first-stage advice itself is being implemented by the bank.
He further added that the CVC clearly distinguishes between the vigilance and non-vigilance angle and advised CVOs not to refer any non-vigilance cases to the CVC.
Bhasin expained that the CVC is focusing more on preventive vigilance, improvement in systems and procedures, and educating staff on the nuances of decision-making.
Speaking on the occasion, Mahesh Kumar Jain, MD and CEO of Indian Bank, said the bank is intrinsically sound with capital adequacy well above the required level. The bank’s gross and net NPAs are well under control, he added.
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