Meet our rural relationship officers

Relationship Officers (ROs) are a critical spoke in the wheel of Kshetriya Gramin Financial Services (KGFS) operations being launched by IFMR Trust Holding Company.

ROs will be the human face of the initiative; the live interface between customers and the company.

From collecting deposits to disbursing loans, promoting life insurance to livestock insurance, ROs will be responsible for all activities at the front-end.

Relationship officers come from diverse backgrounds

As KGFS, by design, operate within a limited geography, the role of ROs in enlisting and nurturing customers will be significant.

ROs appointed in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, where KGFS operations are being launched, are from diverse backgrounds.

Angela Benny has an airline background. She trained to become an airhostess and worked with private airlines for some time. Married around nine months ago, she lives with her family in Pattukottai.

"Having worked with organisations like SpiceJet as ground staff, I am quite familiar with the demands of working in a corporate environment, especially working within the framework of a performance appraisal system," she says.

Like all newly appointed ROs, Benny underwent a 20-day training programme at Thanjavur.

"I am very satisfied with the inputs we received, especially the hands-on sessions on using software applications," she says. "What we did not understand in English or Hindi, we asked in Tamil. So there was no reason for anyone to say that the lessons were not understood!"

Equipped with product knowledge, she is confident of being able to serve customers, though she is aware of the challenges.

"We have to convince rural people that we are not here merely to collect their savings. We will be amongst them forever and be an intricate - and irreplaceable - part of their lives. This is a real challenge and I look forward to it."

Another RO, Praphakaran P, is a BSc in computer science and has worked briefly as a teacher in a computer training institute, and later as marketing advisor for a private insurance company. Hence, he says, "I am quite familiar with the marketing skills needed for this job".

"When I learnt that KGFS was asking for people with skills in computer applications as well as someone with good communications skills, I felt it was a job cut out for me," he adds.

Praphakaran comes from a poor rural background. "My father is a labourer and I have a firsthand sense of what it feels to be poor and wanting in basic resources for survival," he says.

He also has firsthand experience of difficulties in accessing financial services - the nearest bank from his village is 15 km away. "A KGFS branch in my village is a dream come true!"

A Anbarasan is also an educated youth from a rural background. A graduate, he says he is already a "local village hero" because of his association with KGFS!

"I feel half my work has already been accomplished," he says. At the same time, he would like to move beyond this kind of hero-worship.

"I want people to see me more as an agent of change in the village. It is not only loans and savings that I will be dealing with; I am also interested in exposing the village to new ways of living, sanitation and personal hygiene, education and health..."

Let alone a bank, Anbarasan's village does not even have a shop that meets the villagers' everyday grocery needs.

R Suresh was familiar with Self-Help Groups (SHGs) even before he joined KGFS, as quite a few were started in his village. However, most of the groups in his village, and nearby villages, are practically defunct.

"I like the concept of Joint Liability Groups (JLGs), which KGFS will promote, as they are far removed from SHGs," he says.

Suresh is excited about his job as he loves meeting people. "Most of my customers will be from my background, so I have no apprehensions about my responsibilities."

Suresh says he will pay special attention to punctuality, "since it shows that you take a person's time seriously, as also your own".

KGFS will be a welcome alternative to moneylenders, who charge exorbitant interest rates, and rural banks that are not easily accessible, Suresh feels.

"People have to walk long distances to go to a bank. Then they have to wait in long queues. Sometimes the bank official concerned is either not present or does not have time for the customer. With KGFS all this will be a thing of the past," Suresh concludes.

Adds P Venkatesh Pandayan, Hub Manager, KGFS, Pattukottai: "Who has ever heard of financial services at your doorstep to take care of all your needs? It doesn't even happen in cities, unless you have a lot of money!"

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