Staff Reporter / New Delhi
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today stated that India’s banking sector, especially Public Sector Banks (PSBs), has seen a remarkable turnaround under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
She hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for alleging that public sector banks are being used as unlimited sources of funds for fraudulent people, terming his remarks as baseless. The finance minister emphasised that citizen-centric governance is the core principle of the Modi government. She also alleged that during the UPA rule, public sector banks were treated as ‘ATMs’ for shady businessmen.
In a social media post, Ms. Sitharaman claimed that the high concentration of corporate credit and indiscriminate lending during the UPA tenure had led to a significant deterioration in the health of PSBs.
The finance minister highlighted that 54 crore Jan Dhan accounts and more than 52 crore collateral-free loans under various flagship financial inclusion schemes have been sanctioned. Under the PM MUDRA scheme, 68 percent of beneficiaries are women, and under the PM-SVANidhi scheme, 44 percent of beneficiaries are women. Ms. Sitharaman stated that this is a testament to the Modi government’s philosophy of ‘Antyodyaya.’
She also mentioned that loans up to 10 lakh rupees have increased by 238 percent in the last 10 years, and their share in total loans has risen from 19 percent to 23 percent. The finance minister further informed that recruitment drives and Rozgar Mela initiatives have filled lakhs of vacancies across all central government departments, including banks and PSBs. Since 2014, PSBs have recruited 3.94 lakh employees.