Banks Must Appoint Staff Who Speak Local Language, Says Nirmala Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday called upon banks to appoint staff who could "speak the local language" and thus urged them to show inclusivity in their recruitment, media reports said. 

"You are there for doing business. You are not there to cultivate certain value system into the citizens," Nirmala Sitharaman said while speaking at the 75th Annual General Meeting of Indian Banks' Association in Mumbai, the Hindu reported.

According to Hindu Business Line, Ms Sitharaman highlighted this need "because of the diversity of our country".

"When you have staff at the branch level who do not talk in the regional language and who are patriotic enough to say "hey, you don't talk Hindi, maybe you are not Indian" ...  I think, this doesn't do any good for business," Ms Sitharaman said.

She further asked banks to review the people posted at branches and make sure that those who cannot speak the local language "should not be assigned to roles dealing with customers. You must have a lot more sensible ways of recruiting people".

Ms Sitharaman asked banks to encourage an energy of positivity in their facilitation of customers.

"I want you to now say ... we are ready to serve you, be proactive and convey to the customers that you will meet them wherever they want and do business with them, keeping your norms intact," she said.