J anuary 1978. V. Natarajan had joined Indian Bank just six years ago, when the Government demonetised rupee notes in denominations of Rs. 1,000, Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 10,000. Those days, it was big money, but uncommon, and no one witnessed panic attacks and desperate crowds as is being seen now.
But, this time around, when the announcement was made, Natarajan knew there would be large-scale confusion and crisis. He decided to help. The bank official, who retired as assistant branch manager in May 2010 after 38 years of service, told whoever he could to deposit money in the bank — that was the only way to make cash savings worthwhile. “These days, Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 are commonly used. Also, we’ve grown into a society that does not like carrying small change and denominations. So, this was bound to happen,” he says.
Meanwhile, banks got into the act, deciding to tap into their huge force of retired employees — they came with two advantages: loyalty and experience in banking.
In the days that followed, whenever they carried out a transaction in their accounts, Natarajan, 66, and former employees got an SMS from the bank, requesting the services of pensioners in this time of crisis. Within a week, he signed up to volunteer at the Anna Nagar branch of his former bank; it helped that he’d served there from 1998-2004. He, along with the others who volunteered, was given a micro ATM and Rs. 50,000 to disburse to Aadhaar-seeded customers. “Once the biometric matches with the Aadhaar card database, payment is authorised,” he explains.
In Canara Bank, Broadway, R. Ravishankar, 60, and K. Vasanthakumar, 64, are busy at work. Ravishankar disburses new notes, while Vasanthakumar passes cheques and makes ledger entries.
After a break of eight years, Ravishankar is back in the bank. He leaves his Sholinganallur home at 7.30 a.m., travels by bus or train, and gets back about 12 hours later. “I knew there would be extra work and I wanted to help. As a branch, we handled about 700 transactions a day,” he says. Vasanthakumar travels from Ambattur to Broadway. Both of them say it helps they work in branches they are familiar with; they know old customers and can near-seamlessly figure out workflow. “The work is hectic, but I am happy,” says Vasanthakumar. Natarajan says working in a familiar space was helpful because they could identify regular customers and pay without fear. And, know that in case of an issue, you could track them.
For most retired officials, it was the prospect of helping the institution they were part of for decades that triggered the decision to volunteer. M. Sekar, 63, retired as senior manager from Canara Bank in 2013. He continued to be associated with the bank on inspection duty. Sekar was posted in Vellore when demonetisation took place. He extended his stay by five days and helped out at the branch, regulating customers. Back in Chennai, he was part of the team from the Mount Road branch that held a cash mela for police trainees and the public at Rajarathinam Stadium. “I handled about 120 people, giving each Rs. 4,500,” he says, adding, “If called, I’ll go again. After all, it’s my bank.”
Ravishankar is assistant treasurer of the All India Canara Bank Retirees’ Federation, and says that most were willing to chip in during crisis. The force of retired officials helped tackle the crowds that thronged banks. Most customers were desperate and angry, and some ignorant of the current requirements. It did not help that the rules kept changing every day. Was it Rs. 2,500, Rs. 2,000 or Rs. 4,500 that you could exchange? How much could you withdraw?
What the senior brigade did was calm down tempers and speak to people. Volunteers from other groups, such as Chennai Tricolor Initiative, helped manage the crowd and segregate people based on their need — into those wanting to exchange money, make a deposit or withdraw money. Most importantly, the seniors spoke with conviction about the banking process and assuaged fears.
Adds S. Vijay Anand of Chennai Tricolor Initiative: “Once we told them that if they waited for an hour, they would definitely get their money, and that it was just a five-minute process, they relaxed. They needed assurance.”
The rush of people wanting to help — Chennai Tricolor Initiative had about 450 members on its volunteering list — was reminiscent of last year, when the city rose as one to tackle the aftermath of the unprecedented rainfall and the floods that followed.
Natarajan remembers how an elderly woman waited patiently because she had no use for a Rs. 2,000 note. “I need to buy my day-to-day groceries. What will I do with this big a denomination?” she told him. Finally, she went home with what she wanted.
Vijay Anand says they deployed about 400 volunteers in branches of State Bank of India, with some travelling as far away as Guduvanchery and Maduravoyal. “We started by sending about 60 volunteers on day one to 50 critical branches, and aided crowd management. Later, our team also assisted senior citizens in filling up challans and threw light on what the new regulations were. In some branches, there was only a team of three behind the counter. We stepped in to regulate customers, so that work could proceed efficiently.”
Bankers received a lot of goodwill for the way they conducted business without losing their cool. K.V.S. Prakash Rao, Assistant General Manager, Indian Bank, Anna Nagar branch, says the presence of the veterans was very useful.
“We gave them micro ATMs, and they were able to step out of the branch, head to the queue and disburse money. That reduced the footfall inside the branch, and it was timely help for our regular staff,” he adds.
