Don’t blacklist minority areas, minister tells bank association

Rehan Ansari, a resident of Byculla, has been trying to acquire a credit card for the past four years. But every time he fills up a form, it is rejected. The reason: Muslim-dominated areas are blacklisted by banks. 

“A majority of people living in Muslim-dominated areas are denied credit cards and loans by banks. This is an issue we have been trying to bring to the government’s notice,” said Ansari, a member of Jamat-e-Islam. “The prime minister has appealed to the banks to look at criminal records and not locations of residence.”  

Maharashtra minister for minority affairs Arif Naseem Khan told DNA that he had called top nationalised banks for a meeting to discuss the 15-point programme that the prime minister initiated following the Sachar Committee report. “We want to address all the issues like rejection of credit cards to residents living in certain areas and giving education, housing and short-term loans. We have asked them to come back with concrete plans within a fortnight,” said Khan. 

The Indian Bank Association, however, said that the 15-point programme is being followed. The association officials denied any knowledge of complaints like denial of credit cards to minorities.

“There are government guidelines for lending to minorities and we are following the 15-point programme. This is being monitored by the RBI. In fact, banks have to set aside a percentage of loans for minorities. I cannot comment on the complaints specific to certain areas as we have not received them,” said K Unnikrishnan, deputy chief executive of the association. 

The meeting also discussed plans to appoint a coordinator who will liaison with the government and banks. The minority leaders have welcomed this move.

“The problem is at the time of implementation. We hope this move will yield positive results as our people are mostly involved in small businesses,” said Ansari.