Sitharaman rejects Rahul Gandhi’s claim that PSBs only helping the rich | Mint

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday hit back at Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi for asserting that the BJP-led NDA government misused public sector banks (PSBs) to provide an unlimited source of funds to their friends, and had turned them into private financiers for the rich and powerful corporations.

In a series of posts on social media platform X, Sitharaman said the Congress leader’s claims were baseless as PSBs had seen a remarkable turnaround under the current government. She said that Gandhi’s misrepresentation of facts is an insult to the hardworking PSB employees and to the citizens who benefit from a cleaner, stronger banking system.

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The finance minister’s strongly worded response came after the Congress leader accused the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government of using PSBs as an unlimited source of funds for their “fraudulent friends”. “The Modi government has turned these lifelines of the masses into private financiers for only the rich and powerful corporations,” Gandhi said in his post on X, after meeting a delegation from the All India Banking Officers’ Confederation earlier in the day.

Sitharaman countered Gandhi’s claims by saying that high concentration of corporate credit and indiscriminate lending during the Congress-led UPA government had resulted in significant deterioration in the health of PSBs.

Under the Congress government, PSBs were treated as ‘ATMs’ for their cronies and shady businessmen, Sitharaman countered.

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 government functionaries, she wrote.

“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 the government? Modi government initiated the ‘4Rs’ strategy and other reforms in the banking sector,” she said in her post.

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Sitharaman further said that in the past 10 years, the PSBs were supported through a recapitalization of ₹3.26 trillion. “The public also has a shareholding in the PSBs and dividends are the source of income for such investors also, not just for the GoI,” she added.

She emphasized that citizen-centric governance and inclusive development is the core principle of the Modi government.

“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 FM asked.

She further said under PM MUDRA scheme, 68% of beneficiaries are women and under PM-SVANidhi scheme, 44% of beneficiaries are women.

The finance minister also responded to Gandhi’s claim that women employees are not given equal opportunity or advancement.

“Women are excelling as MDs, CEOs, and leaders in the sector. The Modi government’s commitment to women-led development is evident not just in policy but in practice,” she said.

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The finance minister also informed that in the past two years alone, 16 credit outreach programmes have been conducted across India, disbursing over ₹24,500 crore in loans to approximately 9 lakh small clients.

These loans were provided under schemes such as PM MUDRA, Kisan Credit Card, Stand-up India, PM SVANidhi, MSME loans, and agricultural loans. Majority of these loans are collateral-free, small-ticket loans aimed at supporting the common people, she said.