Bapu is coming to India’s rescue once again. And this time he is not alone. He has the support of Sanjay Dutt and SRK. India’s beloved Munnabhai and Kabir Khan are about to become real life teachers for 1.5 lakh debt recovery agents who would be going to school. This new school which has come into existence following the Reserve Bank of India’s decision, on April 24, making it mandatory for agents to be trained within a year for at least 100 hours. This decision from the country’s banking regulator has come after widespread complaints of harassment have been filed against recovery agents.

Hence, recovery agents will now be heading to classrooms to learn good manners. In addition they would be taught how to be more courteous and less violent while recovering money from defaulters. This inspirational initiative will be undertaken at more than 60 centres across cities in the country. And inspiring this change will be none other than two celebrated and critically acclaimed blockblusters, ‘Chak De! India’ and ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’.

SRK, like in his movie, teach the agents the importance of working in a team, especially while collecting data on outstanding dues. Hopefully, the victory in the final and the hardwork to achieve that would inspire the agents to be sincere in their work. While on the other hand, Sanjay Dutt’s Munnabhai is being showed to show the importance of Gandhigiri. This act will sensitise them to more subtle ways of getting defaulters to pay up.

Eager to cash in on the opportunity, grooming schools have mushroomed not just in the metros, but even in places like Thrissur in Kerala and Jalandhar in Punjab.

Indian Institute of Banking and Finance (IIBF) has given thirty-six institutions, including three banks and a few educational institutions, the go-ahead to conduct these courses. Among them are Bank of India, IDBI and Indian Bank.

The RBI had given the mandate to IIBF, along with the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), to formulate a course for recovery agents with a minimum of 100 hours of training. The RBI had made it apparent that only those trained under this programme will be allowed to work as recovery agents for banks.

Not only banks, but many leading business conglomerates such as Anil Ambani group firm NIS Sparta and CRP Technologies, a Mumbai-based risk management and fraud detection firm, have also jumped into the fray.

Talking about this course, Muralidhar Rao, president & chief operating officer, NIS Sparta said they charge between Rs. 4,000 and Rs. 5,000 for the course. “We expect about two lakh participants from across the country to sign up,” Rao said.

Rao also said that the focus of the training was on soft skills and hands-on training. He pointed out that videos form only 10% of the course curriculum, in addition to skits and plays that involve the recovery agents.