Loan officer safety – a low key topic so far – seems to becoming more imporant as incidents of attacks on Field Officers increase.

While there is no industry wide tracking of such data, Live Mint today carried a report with some stats and data -

• In the last three months, two loan officials were murdered in Karnataka in separate incidents. The officials, employees of Hyderabad-based SKS Microfinance Pvt. Ltd, were on their way to disburse cash when they were attacked, chief executive Suresh Gurumani said.
• Bangalore-based Grameen Koota has faced three instances of armed robbery in the past year.
• In the same period, Kolkata-based Bandhan’s branch office in the city was looted.
• Another Kolkata institution, Ujjivan Financial Services Pvt. Ltd, has faced five robberies in the last four months.

In the same article, Samit Ghosh of Ujjivan summed it up best, when he said – “The entire transaction in microfinance business—disbursement, collection of instalments—is in cash. So much cash in hand is a big issue, and it puts our staff at huge risk,” said Samit Ghosh, founder and chief executive, Ujjivan.

Some practices that are being used (and could be adopted by other MFIs) to prevent such incidents -

1. SKS’ loan officials are starting to carry chilli spray with them and are training in self- defence.
2. The firm is also ensuring that its officials do not go into deep, secluded, forest areas and is giving them bags without its logo.
3. Bandhan ensures that whatever money its loan officials collect is disbursed immediately, so they do not have to travel with much cash.
4. Tamil Nadu’s Grama Vidiyal Micro Finance Pvt. Ltd (GVM) has collection rounds between 6am and 9am, so its officials can reach the branch office and banks in daylight.

Read the full article on Live Mint here -

http://livemint.com/2009/09/16232521/Microfinanciers-concerned-as-l.html?d=2

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