Thursday, October 22, 2020

Roots to Fruits - The Journey of Development Banker

 

ROOTS TO FRUITS

This Book is all about Yerram Raju? Not just that. Apart from his life story, this book is the quint essence of development banking and financial inclusion that the country has been pursuing as its unfinished economic agenda.

 

He is perhaps one of the few to start his writing spree at the age of 20 and continuing for 60 years in a row. Not a single year was without a few articles from him, that too in reputed financial dailies and journals. This is perhaps his last book in life, that will end up with the publication of Part 2 by December 5, 2020.

 

Large families of the ilk to which the author belonged are consigned to history, following the family planning since the 1950s. Eldest of the twelve children, the author describes vividly how his parents have instilled great values, ethics and austerity. This formed the roots of his career path to pluck of the fruits in his later part of life.

 

Author’s mother proudly said that her contribution to GDP of India was significant with two of her children – one a reputed gastroenterologist in Texas and the other a reputed Certified Professional Accountant in the US. The second son is a Professor in Yoga at Chennai. With all the sisters married to their choicest spouses, they had a fulfilled life. The parents of the Author Dr. Raju who lived beyond 94yrs and 81yrs respectively had an enriching life nurturing great ambitions in their children.

 

The Book depicts his intense affection towards parents, his own family, and great reverence to his teachers. His verse on Mother and his prose on Father are moving stories. It is a tell-tale story of the growth of a large family and its contribution to the growth of the economy.  All the children of this large family, however, preferred nuclear families.

          


Since Yerram Raju, the author, grew up in austerity and simplicity, he saw his three daughters grew up in the same environment. Though they all wanted to stay in India when married, all of them moved to different countries.

 

The Book offers lessons to several upcoming youth on the choices one can make when confronted with multiple options having equal opportunities for career growth. The interviews faced by him can guide the youth. His career in Textile Mills threw up lots of challenges that he ably faced. His parental dependence made him leave the opportunity to take up one of the more challenging competitive careers – civil services and financial services.

 

His choice of banking backed by emotion had its fruits. He could see the rarest of rare things to happen – retirement of his father serving the same branch where he was posted as Agent, at his hands. Doing PhD instead of pursuing professional course that would have seen a rise in the banking career faster than he had, speaks of his continued choice of academics. This enabled him later to teach the civil servants at Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy of Administration, Mussoorie and Administrative Staff College of India. He was also an external examiner for doctoral degree of three universities. It is difficult to find a banker adorning     s u c h     position.

 

Lending to agriculture and allied activities, particularly to the financially excluded like the marginal small farmers, potters, small enterprises was an obsession with him. Simplification of systems and procedures always attracted his attention.

 

The author in this brief of 130-odd pages, describes the journey of development banking as it took place post nationalization of Banks in India. For those looking for solutions to the problems of credit to the poor and needy, this book offers ready-made solutions. The presentation is simple and lucid.

 

          According to him, Development Banking involves deposit mobilization through innovative schemes considering the needs of a variety of customers and servicing them, both online and offline, and financing development projects that add scheme specific infrastructure for lending and financial inclusion. Social banking is part of development banking. Both require efficient credit risk management. Extension services is part of social banking. Handholding, mentoring, counselling are essential requirements for social banking. It is treated as part of narrow banking, these days.”

         

          He won many an accolade both in the Bank and outside. One such is the recognition as International Man of the Year 1991 by the International Biographical Society, Cambridge for his contribution to rural development.

 

This book offers lessons on recovery of agricultural loans. According to the author, recovery is both an art and science. His success as banker, offers many a lesson for the current day bankers deeply mired in NPAs.

 

The Book is laced with quite a few case studies and provides lots of lessons on development banking. Part 1 of the Autobiography of the author up to the age of sixty years, ends with his transition to academics and consultancy. His relocation prompted by his stint with LBS National Academy proved a good decision at the right time of his career.

 

Readers can look to Part 2 for a greater excitement as it covers policy analysis of the country’s transition to liberalization, privatization, and globalization. The key milestones in this part 1 indicate that the areas would cover financial risk management and institutional innovation.


Available at Amazon store: www.amazon.in/amazon.com

 

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