The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : How safe are our banks?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Sep 16, 2005

Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

How safe are our banks?

Anand Haridas

Statetrends Given the changing times, it is a question that begs an answer With a view to improving the security cover of banks across the country, the Indian Banks' Association has come out with a nine-point security brief for all branches to be implemented in a year's time.

KOCHI: For the masses, banks symbolise security. It is a faith that has survived generations and needs no reiteration. Banks, whether in the public or private sector, have been a source of support and confidence. It is a relationship built on trust. But, how safe are our banks? It is a question that we often forget to ask, comfortable in our belief that in this part of the country there would never be a bank heist.

"Bank branches are highly vulnerable, as managements are reluctant to spend money on improving security cover for the branches," says P.K. Menon, former Chief Security Officer, Corporation Bank, and former Additional Deputy Inspector General, CRPF.

A committee to review security arrangements in public sector banks, formed by the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) in May 1996, had recommended formation of a special force assigned to bank security duties to eliminate the possibility of security breaches. The proposals included having a company commander of the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police to coordinate security work in each district. The report of the committee has not been acted upon.

At present, banks follow the conventional practice of employing former armed forces personnel as security men. This often results in service personnel who have retired as Colonel in Indian Army being posted as Chief Security Officer in the rank of Assistant General Manager with little access to the top brass. In many cases, those appointed as security officers are of advanced age, with little agility and alertness. And these security men are equipped with .12-bore guns, which are unwieldy and allow only two rounds to be fired at a time. Worse, demands by security officers for specialised training and provision for side arms to give more flexibility in their operations have fallen on deaf ears.

There are, however, officers like Brigadier H.K. Sharma, former security officer of State Bank of India, who believes that the present system is sufficient to act as deterrent to miscreants. "The banks' security system is designed to act as a deterrent and it should be able to prevent burglary/ mugging/forced entry, etc. It is not designed to repulse a planned attack or terrorist attack. Should it occur, the existing system and procedure would minimize the damage and enable calling of local police in real time to tackle the situation. For the present, correct balance of electronic security, which includes Closed Circuit TV and burglar alarms, and physical security can stop major violations of security at banks," says Brig. Sharma.

Nine-point plan

The IBA committee had also recommended a nine-point minimum security brief for bank branches, the major points being one main entrance to the bank, shutter at the gate, collapsible gate with chain and locking arrangement permitting opening of 18 inches, electronic alarm system, emergency light, strong room safe being out of public view, grill at all window ventilations, security guards as per the category of the branch and cash cabins fitted with night latches. It had also recommended that banks should carry out an exercise once in three years to categorise branches as high, normal and low on risk elements. "These recommendations were circulated among banks only by 2004-'05. All the banks have asked for a year's time to implement it. The project is in various stages of implementation, we are told," says Rama K. Menon, vice-president of IBA.

However, most of the nationalised banks are now going in for aesthetic trends set by new generation banks and `some practices that are felt to be repugnant or irritants to customer' are being removed. This has seen removal of collapsible gates, much to the chagrin of security personnel. "The new generation banks do cash transmission through private agencies. As the money thus handled is insured, they are not really bothered about its security," Mr. Menon says.

Interaction with police

The police come into play only when the banks request for it. "Only Reserve Bank transactions need mandatory police coverage. For the rest, it is the individual bank's prerogative to decide whether they should employ police or private agencies for security. If they request for police cover, they need to pay a fee," says K. Padmakumar, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Ernakulam Range.

Besides the routine beat patrolling, banks are now focussing on more interaction with the police force. Most of the banks have installed hotlines, connecting the institution to the respective police station and control room. "At times, the police response is not that positive. Especially when there are instances of vandalism on the bank premises. The police should shed the conventional attitude of lodging formal complaints at the station to initiate action," says Captain Sunny Mathew, Chief Security Officer, State Bank of Travancore.

One reason for the lukewarm response on the part of police may be that the bank security officers are rarely in a position to talk to higher officials in police, as their official status comes much down the line, said a security officer of a leading nationalised bank. Former Short Service Commissioned officers, with 5 to 10 years of army service, are appointed security officers at regional or zonal levels.

Though protocol-wise, the rank of Captain is equivalent to Superintendent of Police, banks deliberately downgrade them to Scale I officers at the entry level, complained one former army captain, who is now working as a bank security officer. "There is absolutely no exchange of information regarding criminal activities between the police force and security personnel of banks. "Hence, there is little understanding among the bank security personnel about the emerging crime scenario," said a chief security officer of a leading bank. With the nature of crimes changing by the day, there seems every reason for a fresh look at the security cover that banks now have. After all, it is not just money that is lost in a bank heist but also, as Brig. Sharma puts it, loss of public trust.

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