Unfair deal: views on the Mahila Bank

Abstract

The Bharatiya Mahila Bank branch on the ground floor of the Air India Building at Nariman Point in Mumbai has a cabin that reads 'Usha Ananthasubramanian, Chairman and Managing Director'. The cabin, however, has been unoccupied since Ananthasubramanian was appointed CMD of Punjab National Bank in August. The seating area in front of the cabin, furnished in glittering steel, is also unoccupied. There are two women at the counters, who are clearly unprepared for customers. The only customer is in the branch manager's chamber and seems to be trying to secure a loan for a startup in Bengaluru.

Two years ago, the bank wore a very different look. It was the first branch of the country's first bank dedicated to women, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated it amid much fanfare on November 19, 2013. Though some experts questioned the bank's ability to differentiate itself, many others acknowledged the need for a bank focused exclusively on the needs of women. Some experts even argue that differentiators existed, especially because the bank pre-dated the launch of the Jan Dhan Yojana, the current government's flagship financial inclusion programme.

When P. Chidambaram, who was Manmohan Singh's finance minister, first mooted the idea of a women's bank in his budget speech in 2013, students of the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore carried out a survey among women from different classes. “When we did the study, I realised there were many women who would really feel like entering a branch if there were only women and they could open their heart out. It was not a small number—about 30 per cent—who said this,” says Charan Singh, Reserve Bank of India Chair Professor at the institute. Read more at: https://www.theweek.in/theweek/business/government-uninterested-in-the-growth-of-bharatiya-mahila-bank.html