The decline in cattle population
In the eighties there was a weekly report being submitted in our organisation to the Management Committee on a few important areas of our Zonal Office's working. These would be discussed week after week and mid-course corrections would be decided upon wherever warranted in the light of the performance indicated therein. In our weekly reports we were giving statistics of the various activities of the bank.The statistics were of course cooked up freshly each week showing a steadily improving trend in the Bank's business and profits. Our weekly reports were showing a positive growth in all sectors ,especially those which have been identified as special thrust areas. One of the special thrust areas was the financing of the milch cattle .While the cows were chewing their cud in their place,we were showing a healthy growth in this sub-sector. For 50 weeks we had been showing increasing exposure to this sector of financing.It was as though the milch cattle population in our catchment area was multiplying at a breath-taking pace.Everyone was happy. Then one day my boss had returned from the Corporate Center with bad news .At the Corporate Center he got a miserable dressing- down for over- performance in milch cattle financing and was told very clearly that he should ,by hook or by crook,reduce the exposure in the next 20 weeks. The boss came back and passed down the Corporate Center's unhappiness to all of us. He lectured to us on our failure in keeping him informed of the latest corporate directives and squarely blamed us for the debacle at the Corporate Center. The officer who was instrumental in the submission of the figures was asked to retrieve the situation."You want to reduce the exposure over the next 20 weeks ? No problem,sir,that shall be done" .After that the milch cattle population froze at the same level for two weeks and thereafter started showing a declining trend .By the end of 20 weeks the level of finance reached what it was fifty weeks ago.
Posted on Wednesday, Oct 27, 2010
