Sabarimala

The recent verdict about Sabarimala by the honorable Supreme Court has become a burning issue in Kerala . The verdict allowed women of all age groups to enter Sabarimala temple which was not the practice till now.  When we think about it in a progressive way, it is a good verdict for achieving  equality for women. This is the reason why many people who think progressively are in favour of this. But we should really think whether giving entry into a temple in Kerala will give women any added  advantage to achieve equality. Instead we all should fight for a peaceful country where men and women of any age group can go out and roam or do whatever they want (within the ambit of existing laws in our county) irrespective of whether it is day or night.

I have seen people comparing this verdict to abolition of sati and other social evils which prevailed in our society in the past. They should understand that restricting women of some age group in a single temple in Kerala is not a social evil. Rather it's a belief. May be that could be a blind belief. But for those people who believe in Sabarimala and lord Ayyappa, it is more than a belief. If any women of age group 10 to 50 wants to pray lord Ayyappa, they may go to numerous Ayyappa temples existing in the country. There is no restriction there. All these are belief. The concept of God itself is a belief within the heart of every devotee. You cannot apply any logic behind these beliefs because there is no logic.

To put oil in fire, some grouos are trying to  take undue advantage of the situation. We should understand this and keep them at a distance.

The Kerala government has taken a stand to implement the court order with immediate effect. As a constitutional body, govt. cannot say that they will not implement the supreme court order. Even though it is late, the devaswom minister has made it very clear that Sabarimala is not a place for some people to prove or implement their views. Rather it is a place for devotees of Lord Ayyappa. If any real devotee comes, they will arrange protection. If you closely watch, it can be understood that all those women who came till this time are not devotees but activists who come for either fame or to prove their views. But it will be a tough job for the Kerala police to find out whether any women coming in future to climb Sabarimala are real devotees.

Also the govt and police should to take strict action against those who do violant  protest against the verdict and destroy public property. These people should be penalised to the extent of damage caused by them in addition to penal  action. Also the govt should take into consideration the sentiments of devotees while implementing the court order. The govt should also explore the possibility of supporting the review petitions filed in supreme court. Still if the Supreme Court is not reviewing the order which is already passed, there will not be any other option before the govt but rather to implement it.

I hope I've made my views very clear. It's upto each one of us to decide now in a peaceful way. 

Demonetization of Old High Denomination (OHD) Notes

The demonetization of OHD notes by the government w.e.f 9^th November 2016 was a bold step towards curbing the menace of black money in our country. This move was welcomed by a large section of society even though it created a lot of inconvenience to them.

The decision to withdraw the OHD notes was announced after banking hours by giving a few hours to black money holders to do something. Banks were given time to customize their Core Banking Solution (CBS) and ATM Switch. Everything went perfect till this point. But when the Banks reopened for business after this, there was not enough legal tender currency in the system to meet the requirements of general public. Only new two thousand rupee notes were pumped into the economy adding fuel to the situation. People were struggling to get change for two thousand notes. Five hundred rupee notes are still not available in many branches. If five hundred notes were released along with two thousand, situation would not have been worsened this much.

Adding to the woes of rural population, Reserve Bank has denied the exchange of OHD notes in cooperative banks. Still a major chunk of rural population is dependent on cooperative banks for their banking requirements. At least the provision of exchange of notes would have been given to those cooperative banks where CBS is implemented. Also the unavailability of enough cash in cooperative banks, especially in village cooperative banks is affecting the rural economy. Reserve bank and government should take immediate steps to sort out the cash crunch in cooperative banks to save the rural economy.

In spite of all the hardships, majority of people have welcomed the step to curb the black money circulation. Even though there are some short term disturbances in the economy, this step will be beneficial in a long term. Inflation should come down which will give more comfort to the common man. Also this would give a huge push towards digitizing the economy.

Bank employees across the country, especially in the branches have done an appreciable job in dealing with the situation.

The opinions mentioned above are purely of the author and does not have  political or any other interests.

Happy Independence Day

Are you Living to Work?

Are you living to work or working to live? Definitely I belong to the later group. It has become a trend now to sit late in office. People believe that late working people are hard working also. Sometimes it becomes inevitable to sit late and finish some urgent work. But such types of work will be bare minimum. We should learn to manage and prioritize our work. The need of the hour is not hardworking people but smart working people.

The working condition has become worse in Public Sector Banks, especially in branches of PSBs. Almost all branches are working with less than required staff, quite a few branches does not have required infrastructure, officers travel to nearby branches to complete their day to day work, officers are forced to stretch their working hours sacrificing their family life. After doing all these, they struggle for a decent hike in their salary. We cannot even compare the salary of a Central Govt. Class I employee with a Scale I PSB employee. The difference may be huge. Govt. has constituted the 7^th Pay Commission to revise central govt. employee’s salary which is due in Jan 2016 while we struggle to finalize our revision which was already due in Nov 2012.

A change is inevitable. Each one of us should initiate that change. Reach office on time, do your work sincerely and try to leave office on time so that you get enough time to spend with your family and friends. Ignore the people who sit and kill their time at office. Why we require a six day week while the Banking regulator works only for 5 days? This is the age of technology. Technology has grown to such an extent that it can almost replace human intervention. Five day week should be implemented in banking sector also.

Banking sector is a major contributor in development of any country. But Bankers are not getting that recognition.

Happy Republic Day...