Dinesh Undergoes Rural Assignment

The other day I received a phone call from an MP (Member of Parliament) requesting me not to transfer Mr Dinesh from his present branch, as he was a good man and was doing good job. I told him politely that I would look into it in terms of bank’s policies.

I could easily remember his face, as during my last branch visit, I had seen Dinesh working with one hand plastered. He had met with an accident. He was then pleading with me for his transfer out of that rural branch due to family circumstances. As he was recently posted thereat, I told him to complete his rural assignment of two years. It was a bit surprising, as the MP’s request was contrary to what Dinesh himself had told me.

I talked to my Regional Manager (RM), Dinesh was reporting to. He told me that he had simply warned Dinesh of his transfer due to his reckless financing. His impression was that Dinesh was either acting under pressure or indulging in corrupt practices.

Looking to the MP’s request, I asked RM to retain Dinesh there for two more months with instructions to stop financing, but to transfer him thereafter. Then it slipped my mind.

After seven or eight months, a big surprise was in store for me. I came to know that Dinesh was arrested by police for demanding bribe. My RM told me that he had transferred Dinesh to another rural branch that was recently opened to complete his rural assignment, but with strict instructions not to disburse any loans, but he had started doing it again.

As per rules, I had to suspend Dinesh forthwith. To help RM with the legal processes, I sent my Law Officer, who apprised me that Dinesh had given in to political pressure, and the rivalry between the two groups had brought him these miseries. The charges against him could, however, not be substantiated in the court of law.

Dinesh was immediately transferred to the regional office, but attached to a nearby rural branch for three months to complete his remaining rural assignment.

This doesn’t happen with everybody. We have a number of branches in rural and semi-urban areas, as also a number of MPs and MLAs. It happens only when our moral fibres are not strong enough to sustain the pressure either from within or outside.

–Kaushal Kishore