IBS in Mangalore?

I had written about IBS for all bank-cadre employees. It is like IAS, IPS (Police or Postal), IAAS, IFS (Foreign or Forest), IRS (Revenue or Railways) and so on. I read in Newspapers today that Shri Veerappa Moily, Minister at GOI, hinting at opening of an International Business School in Mangalore shortly by converting over a century old Govt. College.  It is a welcome move to have an ISB (or IBS?) in the west.

Being a Hyderabadi myself, I feel some times proud and some other times confused at ISB and IBS.  Same thing happened in the above news item too. ISB is a world-class Management Institute - one of its kind ranked in the top-15 globally.  ISB is going north to Mohali in Haryana.  IBS is an off-shoot of ICFAI with a chain of about 15 schools pan-India.  IBS have intra and inter-B-Schools competition to face to prove.

Back IBS, I mean Indian Banking Service, it is time we had this cadre.  With two nationalisations in 1969 and 1980, over 80% of the banking business in India is in public sector.  In the early days (seventies and eighties), all types of experiments were made with the banking system.  Only in early Nineties, during reforms process, we realised that they were un-productive, non-profitable, low-capital, no-customer care, regulated interest rates, no competition, no tech-savvy, mediocre staff, no innovations in products and services, no ALM or RM, no balance sheet management, no competitive compensation packages, rigid trade unionism, and so on.  CMDs are chosen by RBI and GOI for as short a period as one month to five years terms... Dumb Commercial Advertisements were issued by these banks through a Joint Publicity Committee of IBA.

With the modern banking or Knowledge Banking as called by a latest bank, and the need for furthering banking services to grass roots in the name of Financial Inclusion, it is time that Banking field to be professionalised.  Cooperative, Regional Rural and Local Area Banks are only a baggage on the industry.  It is only PSBs, Private (Old & New) and Foreign Banks should have a level-playing field through stiff competition in their products & services, customer care, pricing of their products, locations and net-working.  IBS and formation of Indian Banking Academy (with branches one each in North, East, West, South and Central India) should develop this cadre for efficient handling of the task.  Let us look forward.