Surprise PSB visits by DFS secy uncover lapses

Department of Financial Services (DFS) Secretary M Nagaraju, who had conducted surprise visits to branches of public sector banks (PSBs) in New Delhi last week, was in for a rude shock.

- HARSH KUMAR

Nagaraju was made to wait for an hour to meet the manager in one bank, and in some other PSB branches, he found the behaviour of officials "unsatisfactory".

The surprise checks were meant to observe and assess how employees of PSBs interact with customers and where they lag compared to private banks.

"The DFS secretary, along with other senior officials, conducted visits to three major PSB branches in New Delhi last week. In one of the major branches, the DFS secretary had to wait for around an hour to talk to the branch manager, until he disclosed his identity. The manager was busy on a phone call," said a source.

During the inspection, the DFS secretary found some serious behavioural issues, the source added.