The UPA government is struggling hard to keep the promises it made to minorities despite all its good intentions.
NEW DELHI: The UPA government is struggling hard to keep the promises it made to minorities despite all its good intentions.
Under a 15-point programme for minorities, Prime minister Manmohan Singh had announced to open about 1,000 branches of nationalised banks in minority dominated areas to provide poor minorities easy access to credit facilities. Finance minister P Chidambaram too promised to open 524 public sector banks in Muslim-dominated areas during his Budget speech this year.
However, a year and a half later, the public sector banks have hardly taken the programme in its true spirit and have failed to comply with the orders.
Though a large number of bank branches opened in the last one and a half years, they were all areas out of bounds of poor minorities.
Sample these. In Lucknow, which has a large minority population, a bank recently opened a new branch inside the IIM campus, providing banking facilities to the B-school’s students and staff. Similarly, in Hyderabad, a bank opened a branch in the posh Banjara Hills while in Gurgaon (Haryana) another bank opened one at Sushank Lok. Another bank opened a branch at the Trivandrum airport and the Cochin Naval base. In Delhi, a bank has opened its branch at the Prasar Bharti building that hosts Doordarshan. Not one of them is aimed at helping the poor minorities.
The Sachar panel had said that Muslims in India get 9% less priority sector advances from banks and if public sector banks continue ignoring minority areas, it is certainly not going to help improve statistics.
A miffed PMO has written to the finance ministry stating that it had to be serious with public sector banks besides monitoring the fact that they are serving the minority right.
p_vineeta@dnaindia.net
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}