Involve Gram Panchayats

With reference to 'Farmers still unaware of details of PM Fasal Bima Yojana' (August 21) is bewildering despite the thrust to digital India and extensive spread of social media. Unless awareness about government schemes is disseminated to the needy, the purpose remains unserved.

Under the circumstances, the Panchayat Raj system must be utilised and awareness of government schemes can be effectively spread through Gram Panchayat members, who may have to be trained for this. This would certainly help farmers facing distress.

Hassan Dist (Karnataka)

The deluge disaster in Kerala brought out the best in many people and the worst in a few people. Innumerable acts of altruism during the unprecedented flood and its aftermath demonstrated the essential goodness of human nature. The entire State rose as one force and showed characteristic unity and courage to overcome the untold adversity.

The three Rs — rescue, relief and rehabilitation — have only the humanitarian angle and no other. The people of Kerala are amazingly resilient and they will get over the humanitarian catastrophe and rebuild their lives (a New Kerala, as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan puts it) with the support of the rest of India and the world.

At the same time, the right-wing groups seized the occasion to blame the flood victims for the natural disaster. By attributing the deluge in ‘God’s own country’ to its lifestyle and social composition, the incorrigible bigots-cum-trolls showed the kind of decadence, degeneration and divisiveness that has of late set in in our society.

Kerala has made medical preparations to treat the ‘poisonous bites’ in the wake of the floods. It is now additionally burdened with fighting the poison of religious hatred. Given its advanced collective consciousness, the state is sure to succeed in taking the rabidly communal forces head on and defeating them as in overcoming the natural adversity.

Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu

The Plus one and Class IX siblings bequeathing one acre of land share from their father for their future to the Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund (CMDRF) in Kerala portrays their sagacity and concern towards the people who are afflicted by massive floods. One wonders how such a brilliant ideaoccurred to the young minds.

This is the spirit of people of all walks of life in our country who voluntarily come forward to donate whatever they can to alleviate the sufferings of people who are in distress. May their tribe increase, manifold!

Bengaluru

With reference to ‘For quick loan decisions, consortiums to get slimmer, says SBI Chairman’, (August 21), the SBI Chairman’s grouse against consortium lending is justified. The higher the number of banks, the greater is the delay in appraisal as points of decision making are more.

Further more number of banks does not guarantee the quality of appraisal. Most of the participating members simply copy the appraisal memorandum prepared by the leader and place it before the sanctioning authority.

However, the top lender is incorrect when he bemoans that hitherto lenders relied upon the trust and borrowers failed them.

Another aspect SBI Chairman missed out is the distribution of risk when there are more number of members in the consortium. When the accounts become non performing one, losses get reduced at the individual bank level. The quality of appraisal has remained same over a period.

The appraisal note mostly takes into account assumptions recorded in the project report of the applicant borrower. Lenders do not have the skill-set to vet the underlying assumptions in a project.

Are our bankers familiar with the different business models of companies and the risks associated with different types of business? Further lenders’ response to deteriorating trends in borrowers’ health is quite slow and timid.

Just compare this with the market response where the borrower’s share nosedives when the market comes to know of falling performance indicators.

Bengaluru

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