Bad loans big UPA scam: PM

Sanjeev Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 13

A day before the second round of polling for the Assembly elections in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged that previous Congress-led UPA government during its tenure had pressured banks to give huge loans to select industrialists and said the “bank scam” was the biggest scam of the UPA, bigger than the coal, 2G and Commonwealth scams.

Addressing the 90th AGM of industry chamber, FICCI, the PM leveled the allegation while talking about his government’s schemes for giving loans to young entrepreneurs through the Mudra Yojana and Start-Up India.

The Modi government has been targeted by the Congress for following a model that favours only a few rich industrialists.

The PM said the huge non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans in the banking system are the “biggest liability” that “economists” in the UPA regime had left for the present government, which was taking steps to bolster the banking system.

Modi alleged that the UPA government indulged in loot and stole the hard-earned money of the common man by giving away such loans and at that time all the institutions knew that something wrong was going on but nobody raised their voice.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in a recent Facebook post had attacked the UPA government, alleging that between 2008 and 2014 public sector banks disbursed disproportionate sums of loans to several industries as advances grew by Rs 34 lakh crore, a threefold increase in six years. Jaitley had said that these loans were given under pressure and no action was taken when the debtors delayed payments.

Assuring to protect bank deposits, the PM said rumours were now being spread about the Financial Regulation and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill. He said the government was working to protect the interests and deposits of the account holders, but rumours and misgivings were being spread. He said organisations such as FICCI were responsible for spreading awareness about such issues. He said industry had a big role now in making GST more effective so that its benefits were passed on to consumers. 

“The government’s effort is to ensure that maximum businesses register for GST. The more formal the system becomes, the more it will benefit the poor. It will enable easier availability of credit from banks and reduce cost of logistics, thereby enhancing competitiveness of businesses,” the PM added.