‘Public banks treated as ATMs under Cong rule’: Nirmala Sitharaman's counter to Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi in an X post alleged that the public sector banks are being “forced to prioritise profit over people

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday hit out at Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of “baseless statements” on India's public sector banks (PSB).

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi

Earlier in the day, Gandhi in an X post alleged that the public sector banks are being “forced to prioritise profit over people and are thus unable to serve the public effectively.”

“Public Sector Banks were designed to give every Indian access to credit. The Modi government has turned these lifelines of the masses into private financiers for only the rich and powerful corporations,” Gandhi said.

“With staff shortages and a toxic work environment, they are expected to reach unachievable targets without a level playing field. Women employees are not given equal opportunity or advancement and forced to bear the brunt of dissatisfied public. Modi govt must stop using PSBs as an unlimited source of funds for their fraudulent friends. There’s also more to a public sector bank than a dividend cheque to the govt at the end of the year,” the former Congress president added.

Countering Gandhi's attacks, Sitharaman said that India's banking sector, especially the PSBs, witnessed a “remarkable turnaround” under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.

‘Bank employees harassed, forced to give loans to cronies under UPA’: Sitharaman

 

“Didn’t the people who met with the LoP tell him that high concentration of corporate credit and indiscriminate lending during UPA tenure had resulted in significant deterioration in the health of PSBs? Under INCIndia, PSBs were treated as ‘ATMs’ for their cronies and shady businessmen,” Sitharaman said in an X post.

“It was actually during the UPA regime when bank employees were harassed and forced to give loans to cronies through “phone banking” by the then Congress-led UPA Govt functionaries. Didn’t the people who met with the LoP tell him that Asset Quality Review was launched by our Government in 2015, unearthing the ‘phone banking’ practices of UPA Govt?” she added.

 

"Modi Government initiated the ‘4Rs’ strategy and other reforms in the banking sector. Didn’t the people who met with the LoP tell him that in the last 10 years, the PSBs were supported through recapitalisation of Rs. 3.26 lakh crore?" the minister added.

‘Citizen-centric governance core principle of Modi governance’: FM

Continuing her attack against Rahul Gandhi, Nirmala Sitharaman said that India's public also has a shareholding in the public sector banks and dividends are source of income for such investors too.

“Didn’t the people who met with the LoP tell him that during the UPA rule these PSBs paid dividends of ₹ 56534 crore? Citizen centric governance and inclusive development is the core principle of Modi Government,” she added.

“Didn’t the people who met with the LoP tell him that 54 crore Jan Dhan accounts and more than 52 crore collateral-free loans under various flagship financial inclusion schemes (PM MUDRA, Stand-Up India, PM-SVANidhi, PM Vishwakarma) have been sanctioned?” the minister added.