To consolidate its position, public sector giant - State Bank of India (SBI) - has invited applications for 1,000 positions of probationary officers to serve in the rural and semi-urban areas. A special cadre - rural business group - has been formed with officers having to mandatorily serve in these areas for a period of 10 years.
This is the second round of recruitment for this cadre with invitations for 2,000 jobs being made a few months ago. The new recruits are presently undergoing training. "The bank may come up with more such job offers if the present model is found successful," said a source in the Mumbai office of the SBI.
The management was not satisfied with the bank's progress in rural areas. The disconnect between the banker and the client was also a reason for increasing non-performing assets (NPA), feel officials.
"In some states, the NPAs are as low as 5% to 7% with Maharashtra also having a relatively high rate of loan default," said an official related to the bank's rural business. "It was mainly the indifference of the officers towards their rural posting which led to de-growth," said the source.
Till now, all officers joining the SBI had to complete a two-year term in rural or semi-urban areas. However, it was largely considered as a punishment posting with officers only waiting for their term to end. Going on long leave was common. This affected the bank's business in rural areas. These days, rural banking has also become the government's focus area.
The other employment conditions, including promotions and pay hikes, will be the same for rural officers as compared to their counterparts in the general cadre. Recruitment in the general cadre will continue with officers still having to compulsorily do two years of a rural assignment.
"The response to the previous recruitment drive was good with almost 34 lakh applications in the fray," said a source. Through coaching classes for competitive exams, it was found that the aspirants for the current offer came from various educational backgrounds, ranging from commerce graduates to engineers.
This is the second round of recruitment for this cadre with invitations for 2,000 jobs being made a few months ago. The new recruits are presently undergoing training. "The bank may come up with more such job offers if the present model is found successful," said a source in the Mumbai office of the SBI.
The management was not satisfied with the bank's progress in rural areas. The disconnect between the banker and the client was also a reason for increasing non-performing assets (NPA), feel officials.
"In some states, the NPAs are as low as 5% to 7% with Maharashtra also having a relatively high rate of loan default," said an official related to the bank's rural business. "It was mainly the indifference of the officers towards their rural posting which led to de-growth," said the source.
The other employment conditions, including promotions and pay hikes, will be the same for rural officers as compared to their counterparts in the general cadre. Recruitment in the general cadre will continue with officers still having to compulsorily do two years of a rural assignment.
"The response to the previous recruitment drive was good with almost 34 lakh applications in the fray," said a source. Through coaching classes for competitive exams, it was found that the aspirants for the current offer came from various educational backgrounds, ranging from commerce graduates to engineers.
