Essay

Pros & Cons of SBI Associate merging with parent SBI:

The Union cabinet on June 15, 2016 approved the  merger of the five subsidiaries of State Bank of India (SBI) with the parent, as the Indian banking system moves into a phase of consolidation.

The cabinet approved the merger of the subsidiaries namely State Bank of Mysore ,State bank of Travancore,State Bank of Hyderabad,State Bank of Patalia ,State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur along with Bhartiya Mahila Bank Ltd with SBI. SBI’s merger with subsidiaries will see the combined entity’s balance  sheet at a whopping Rs.37 trillion, making it one of the top 50 banks in the 

world.

Some of the pros and cons are as follows:

Pros:

1) Currently, no Indian bank features in the top 50 banks of the world. With this merger,visibility at global level is likely to increase.

2)Branch rationalization, if executed well, would be one of the key synergy benefits from the merger

3)The merger benefits include getting economies of scale and reduction in the cost of doing business.

4)After the amalgamation it can withstand the strong competition from private sector banks and can accumulate more resources to  channelize trained manpower across its branches.

5)The merger of SBI and its associate banks will result in the network increase of SBI and its reach would multiply. 

6)Cost savings on account of treasury operations, audit, technology, etc, would lower cost-to-income ratio in the long term.

7)Any introduction of new technologies and features by SBI  will uniformly be available to all customers of SBI , its associates and subsidiaries.

8>Shares of SBI and its associates will post tremendous earnings in the stock exchange thereby benefiting stake holders.

Cons:

1)Immediate negative impact would be from pension liability provisions (due to different employee benefit structures) and harmonization of accounting policies for NPA (non-performing assets) recognition.

2)The associate banks are on a totally different footing as they have regional flavor and regional focus compared to nationalistic SBI culture.

3)Various internal conflicts and disputes may arise with regard to promotion,pension and other potential issues.

4) Post the merger, SBI's employee costs could rise by Rs 23 crore a month.

Descriptive tips:

Descriptive tips:

In the descriptive test normally candidates are required to write essay type answers to the questions which are based on situations, current topics, topics of common interest, national issues etc. The questions are basic in nature and not much preparation is required for it.

 However since you have to qualify that, therefore your objective should be to write very well in the given time. In case you are not comfortable with this section what you can do is, try to write short notes on life situations and current topics regularly. For this you will have to read newspapers, magazines on current topics on a regular basis. From there you will be able to extract sufficient information regarding all the topics that may come in the exam.
 Regarding, writing in English one should always be aware of the few points such as knowing where the capital letters are used and the ability to use grammar with no mistakes. Also using commas properly while joining two sentences and full stops after the completion of every single sentence makes it look professional.

Essay

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY)


The sheer force of aspiration of India led Mr. Narendra Modi from Gujarat to Delhi in May 2014 as the 14th Prime minister of the country. Mr. Modi and his cabinet ministers launched many schemes which in the beginning looked frivolous and inept but soon they started nonplussing people of India. The policies were started not only keeping the elites in mind but also the hoi polloi's. 
One such scheme was JAN DHAN YOJANA – (PMJDY) launched on August 28, 2014.It is a ambitious scheme of Honorable Prime minister Mr. Narendra Modi which seeks to provide a bank account for those who don't have one .On the very day of launch 1.5 Crore ( bank accounts were opened under this scheme and also holds a Guinness World Records for the most bank accounts opened in 1 week as a part of financial inclusion.
The Jan-Dhan Yojana is aimed to provide basic banking accounts with a debit card with inbuilt accident insurance.The main features of this scheme include Rs 5,000 overdraft facility for Aadhar-linked accounts, RuPay Debit Card with inbuilt Rs 1 lakh accident insurance cover and minimum monthly remuneration of Rs 5,000 to business correspondents who will provide the last link between the account holders and the bank. 
This effective scheme has a national mission on financial inclusion in order to cover all households in the country with banking facilities and having a bank account for each household. The scheme has an objective to provide two accounts to 7.5 crore identified households by August 2018. PMJDY works on the principles of Sab Ka Sath Sab Ka Vikas.
The first phase of the mission,ended in August 2015. The second phase began from 2015 till 2018 that will cover aspects such as micro insurance and pension schemes like 'Swavalamban'. The National Payments Corporation of India has tied up with HDFC Ergo to provide the 1 Lakh initial cover while the additional 1 Lakh cover would be provided by the four state owned general insurers New India Assurance, National Insurance, United India Insurance and Oriental Insurance Company
Some of the advantages of Jan Dhan Yojana. are the account holders will be provided a zero-balance savings account with a RuPay debit card. Account holder will get a kit containing cheque book, financial literacy and pass book. Person will also get Aadhar number immediately. The Prime Minister also said that by providing debit cards that can be swiped the scheme shall reduce the dependence on credit cards, thereby promoting savings.
There are some drawbacks of this scheme. Experts stated that Jan Dhan Yojana is questionable viability of banking, insurance accounts, Priority versus freebies banking and it may burden on the taxpayer.
Even than PMJDY is a more effective scheme as compared to other schemes launched by earlier UPA Govt as Jan-Dhan Yojana scheme will allow government to return people's money to them. This scheme will assist people of India, especially the poor sections by providing a bank account, credit facility, insurance cover and debit card. In the long run, the scheme will also permit the poorer sections to avail themselves of subsidies and overdraft facilities through their bank accounts, which are intended to eliminate money-lenders, commission agents and corruption. According to PM Modi, this scheme will boost everyone's confidence, enhance the economy and also stop monetary untouchability.