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Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday criticized opposition leader Rahul Gandhi for accusing the NDA government of misusing public sector banks as an unlimited source of funds for its “fraudulent friends” .
Sitharaman in a series of social media posts He expressed that Gandhi’s distortion of facts is offensive to the dedicated staff of the PSB and the people who depend on a more efficient and secure banking system.
“Rahul Gandhi’s misrepresentation of facts is an insult to the hard-working PSB employees and citizens who benefit from a cleaner, stronger banking system. It’s high time @INCIndia improves LOP’s understanding of governance. Didn’t the people who met with LoP tell you that in the last two years alone, 16 credit extension programs have been carried out across India, disbursing more than 24.5 billion of rupees in loans to around 9 lakh small customers? These loans were given under schemes like PM MUDRA, Kisan Credit Card, Stand-up India, PM SVANidhi, MSME loans and agricultural loans Most of these loans. They are small, unsecured loans meant to support common people,” Sitharaman noted in her post.
In the same thread of posts, he noted that the 12th Bipartite Agreement (BPS) had been signed well before the typical timeline for such agreements. As a result, the income of bank employees increased significantly.
The 12th BPS includes many employee-friendly measures such as:
- 17% increase in salary and benefits (Rs 12,449 crore) and 3% charge (within the overall increase of 17%), amounting to Rs 1,795 crore (drawing terminal benefits).
- New salary scale and cost sheets for all tables.
- Change in base year for calculating DA/DR rates for in-service personnel as well as pensioners/family pensioners from 1960 to 2016
- Revised stopover rates/accommodation charges, delegation allowance and road travel expense reimbursement rates.
- Revised health insurance policy for retirees with Base policy concept.
- The Staff Welfare Fund (SWF) received a boost by increasing the maximum annual expenditure ceiling. The ceiling, last reviewed in 2012, has been thoroughly revised. After the review, the combined annual spending ceiling of sovereign wealth funds for the 12 PSBs has increased from Rs 540 crore to Rs 845 crore. This increase will benefit 15 lakh staff, including retired employees.
He added that PSBs were misused under the UPA regime as they were forced to give loans to their cronies.
“Rahul Gandhi’s penchant for making baseless statements is on display, once again. India’s banking sector, especially public sector banks (PSBs), has seen a remarkable change under @PMOIndia @narendramodi. Don’t you said people who met LoP? Le told that high concentration of corporate credit and indiscriminate lending during UPA rule had resulted in significant deterioration in the health of PSBs Under @INCIndia, PSBs were treated. like? “ATMs” for their cronies and shady businessmen Actually, it was during the UPA regime that bank employees were harassed and forced to give loans to their cronies through “phone banking” by them. the then Congress-led UPA government officials,” Sitharaman wrote.
He went on to add that the current government launched the Asset Quality Review in 2015, revealing the ‘phone banking’ practices of the previous UPA government. The Modi government introduced the ‘4R’ strategy and other banking sector reforms.
Earlier on Wednesday, Gandhi met a delegation from the All India Confederation of Banking Officers and posted on X that “the Modi government has turned these lifelines of the masses into private financiers only for the rich and powerful corporations.”
After meeting the members, he expressed displeasure over the state of public sector banks and their impact on common people.
“PSBs are forced to prioritize profits over people and are therefore unable to serve the public effectively. With staff shortages and a toxic work environment, they are expected to achieve unattainable targets without a level playing field” said Gandhi.
“The Modi government must stop using PSBs as an unlimited source of funds for its fraudulent friends. A public sector bank also means more than a dividend check for the government at the end of the year,” the opposition leader said.
