To help rein in non-performing assets, Canara Bank Officers’ Association (CBOA) has launched a campaign that focusses on recoveries.
GV Manimaran, General Secretary of CBOA, told BusinessLine that the association wants to create awareness and initiate steps to avoid fresh slippages to NPAs, and to recover the dues.
The association has around 24,500 members. Stating that 96.5 per cent of officers of the bank are members of CBOA, he said the regional-level office-bearers and their team members will visit three branches a week for the next few weeks of the current financial year.
The team members will assess the bad debt situation at the branches during their visits. This apart, they will offer assistance by way of accompanying the branch staff in meeting the defaulters and to send notices, wherever necessary.
Manimaran said that he gets to know the day-to-day developments of the campaign on WhatsApp. The details include the photographs of visits, the amounts recovered, and so on.
If NPA control is the immediate target for this campaign, the association is also hand-holding the new officers through this exercise.
Manimaran said that around 70 per cent of the new officers are direct recruits who joined after 2009. They are young and need experience in areas like this. “These days most of the officers joining the bank are from engineering streams,” he said.
With this campaign, an effort is being made to mould these young officers in core banking activities.
The net NPA of the bank stood at ₹22,295 crore as on December 31. Canara Bank has 118 regional offices. On an average three districts fall under the jurisdiction of each region, Manimaran added.