It was early March 2021 when I got a call from the accountant of one of our customers.

She was calling to request for an

enhancement in the loan limits being availed by the them with our Bank. The customer was engaged in the contract business of
Guwahati and the North East. It would be wrong to say that the services of the unit were confined to Assam or the North East. Over
the years the customer has been accredited with completion of work orders across West Bengal and Orissa as well. The unit was a
proprietorship concern led by one of the veteran businessmen of the region who was known for his business acumen and with over
thirty years of rich experience in this field. The borrower regularly contributed to our Bank’s cross selling business and the CASA
deposits brought in him and his staff only added to our entire kitty of financial products being availed by him. 
At the very onset of receiving the proposal I was very eager to work on it. With the audited Balance sheet in hand, I sat down to
work out the internal rating of the borrower. Here I came across my first glitch. What exact activity would I classify the borrower
into? As I scrolled down for the available list of activities in Llms suited to the borrower, I came across EPC contractor that seemed
closest to what the unit was actually doing. But I was not confident. That was because this unit was not engaged in construction
activity under EPC mode. Yes construction accounted for 30-40percent of its turnover, the rest coming from carrying and supply
business and the remaining from telecom services. But I could simply not find anything like construction non EPC(like is available
in CRM fields) or contract activity in LLMS. So I settled for the what was available. Next I downloaded the CRMD guidelines for
the construction sector where I came across the headroom criteria. I was aghast. There were certain ratios which had to be complied
with over and above the normal ratios that were laid down in our loan policy guidelines. I felt stifled knowing that the long line of
compliances and added restrictions would become a bottleneck in the smooth processing of this Loan. At one time I simply lost
hope and felt demotivated to work. This was one customer who deserved what he was requesting from us. He had been maintaining
good conduct of his loan accounts, financial discipline was followed and on no account up till now he had given us reason to believe
otherwise.  
Just while I had given all hope, my senior colleague in our branch asked me to consult with the higher officials at SMEBU
department in Corporate Centre. I jumped at this opportunity and what I learnt from my interaction with our higher ups there was
that If I as the RMsMe was convinced on the activity of the unit, the onus was on me to make everyone understand that the activity
has to be classified thus. This simply was a eye opener for me. 
So I began. I firstly scrutinised the sales of the unit as originating from the concerned departments to justify the activity type of
borrower. I took help and advise from many senior officials who have rich experience in credit. And as my knowledge was
supplemented I only became confident in bringing this proposal to a meaningful end.
The proposal had to be submitted to RCCC and the whole process of preparing the proposal and involved rigorous discussions with
the borrower, brainstorming with my colleagues and in depth study of the various circulars and guidelines issued by the Bank. And
finally the D Day approached and I was summoned at our LHO to present the proposal. As my Chief Manager and I sat down at the
Conference Room in the eight floor, one thing rung clear in my ear-I was representing one MSME borrower in need of bank
assistance to finance his activity which he had started from scratch and one which undoubtedly deserved support as per our
government goals on MSME sector. And as our GM Sir from CRD enlightened us with some key areas in our proposal that needed
improvement I knew that the committee was convinced. I felt overwhelmed. I realised that instant that if the effort is right and one is
well informed of all bank guidelines, an honest call from the right track customer will never go unanswered in our Bank.

Saudamini Kakoti
Relationship Manager(SME)
PF 6732100
SME GS Road(12259)