Financial sector : DFS & Supreme Court panel conduct mediation training for DRT officers; dispute resolution skills on priority

The Department of Financial Services (DFS), in collaboration with the Mediation and Conciliation Project Committee (MCPC) of the Supreme Court, has conducted a 40-hour mediation training programme for presiding officers of Debts Recovery Tribunals (DRTs) and senior executives of public sector banks.The programme, held between September 24 and 28, sought to highlight the growing importance of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in the financial sector, the finance ministry said in a statement on Sunday, PTI reported.“Mediation is internationally recognised as an effective practice for resolving disputes through mutual consensus,” the ministry noted.The curriculum covered a wide range of topics, including the fundamentals of mediation, comparison with judicial and other ADR processes, stages of mediation, communication strategies, and techniques of negotiation and bargaining.Participants were also trained on the roles of referral judges, lawyers, and litigants in mediation, with particular emphasis on disputes falling under the Recovery of Debts and Bankruptcy (RDB) Act, 1993, and the SARFAESI Act, 2002, which are adjudicated by DRT presiding officers.According to the ministry, participants welcomed the initiative, appreciating both the depth of topics covered and the collaborative effort by DFS and the Supreme Court’s MCPC to equip financial adjudicators and bankers with structured mediation skills.