Rahul Mehta Gandhinagar LsCandidate

Kaushik Bhattacharya:

How Private Banking Exploded in India After a President Died

In December 1994, President Gyani Zail Singh Singh was severely injured when his car collided with a truck in Punjab on 29 November 1994. He was admitted to PGI Chandigarh where he died on 25 December 1994. The Centre declared an unprecedented 7 days of national mourning.

As soon as news broke that Singh was in ICU, Government, PSU and bank employees in Delhi started planning their big holiday, hoping he would die in the beginning of the week that would ensure a super long holiday.

Singh died on a Sunday, ensuring a long holiday for Government and PSU workers. Many took off for the hills on Friday, December 23, and returned to work on Monday, January 2 - a total of 10 days.

The public sector banks like SBI and PNB were closed the whole time, causing nightmarish scenarios for customers.

The following week, a private bank, probably Citibank or ICICI Bank, brought out a full page ad in all national newspapers, with this message:

Monday: We were open
Tuesday: We were open
Wednesday: We were open
Thursday: We were open
Friday: We were open
Saturday: We were open.

This was one of the iconic ads of that time. Almost everyone went out and opened an account in Citibank, ICICI, HDFC etc.

Today, most Indians from the middle class and high net worth group, use private banking for their day to day needs. Most companies use private banks for salary accounts. Banks like SBI are used primarily for term deposits or by entities that require large amounts of small denomination notes and coins.

Today, if you enter a PSU bank you generally see a bunch of unhappy employees who have to deal with the lower strata of society, pensioners etc. All the valuable customers have moved to private banks where they are treated like VIPs and are usually addressed by their name by the bank staff.

Plus, with net / app banking the norm, most people rarely have to visit a branch.

Private bank employees can be sometimes pushy, trying to get you to buy pension plans, insurance etc. But a polite but firm no is enough to end the spiel.

So when millions of PSU bank employees go on strike on September 28, 29 and 30, most Indians won't feel a thing. Except indifference.