Allaying fears of depositors in their bank accounts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that deposits in banks would be safe and their interests would not be harmed in any way. Modi further said that banks were pressured to give loans worth thousands of crores of rupees to select industrialists in a scam bigger than 2G, coal and Commonwealth Games scams.
The Prime Minister’s statement comes at a time when rumours in the social media are being spread about the misuse of depositors’ money after the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill comes into effect by the Government.
Addressing an august gathering of industry leaders, Modi however clarified that the government is trying to strengthen the banking system by policy initiatives and dismissed the rumours being spread by some sections about provisions of the proposed FRDI Bill under which the depositors would suffer.
“The Government is trying to strengthen the banking system by policy initiatives on a daily basis. But on social media rumours are being spread about the FRDI Bill, which is completely opposite to the reality. We are trying to protect the depositors interest and the banks as well,” Modi said while addressing FICCI’s AGM here.
Appreciating his Government's efforts, he further said, “I would like to congratulate the FICCI for its 90 years of operation. Ninety years ago, along with normal duties and responsibilities, national duties and responsibilities were carried out and we are doing so now.”
Talking about small businesses, Modi said that his Government is giving a boost to start-ups. “In the last three years, because of our decisions, there has been a lot of advancement in these areas. In the last government, large businesses were given huge loans by putting pressure on the banks,” he said.
Listing out his Government's pro-poor policies, Modi said free cooking gas connections have been given to over 3 crore women; 30 crore bank accounts have been opened as part of financial inclusion; over Rs 4 lakh crore guarantee-less loans have been given to about 9.75 lakh youth for business; 5 crore toilets built and affordable housing for rural poor launched.
“My Government is ending this fight with the system. It is not only transparent, but also sensitive. So, when we started the ‘Jan Dhan Yojana’, we got such a great response. At the time of starting it, we didn't know how many accounts we would have to open. There was no such data. We just knew that the poor were turned away. Now, with 30 crore accounts being opened, we have an idea of what a change this has created,” he added.
This Government is framing policies keeping the needs of the youth in mind. In the last three years, 87 reforms in 21 sectors have been undertaken to overhaul the economy, he said.
The industry, he said, had been long demanding Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the BJP-led Government implemented it and introduced measures like anti-profiteering to see that businesses pass on the benefit of lower taxes to the people.
“As the Government makes efforts to ensure maximum businesses register for GST, the more formal the system becomes, the more it will benefit the poor,” he added.