'Baseless Statements...' - FM Sitharaman Responds To Rahul Gandhi With Facts On Banking, Schemes

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman , on Thursday, hit out at Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi with facts on banking, schemes and digital payments and said that the Congress scion had a 'penchant' for making 'baseless statements'.

The exchange follows Gandhi’s meeting with a delegation from the All India Banking Officers Confederation.

FM reply to Rahul Gandhi 
Sitharaman took to X (formerly Twitter) to post a detailed rebuttal. She stated, “Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi’s penchant for making baseless statements is on full display, yet again.

”Her posts outlined that public sector banks had seen a “remarkable turnaround” under Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s leadership.

The FM highlighted that during the UPA tenure, PSBs suffered due to “indiscriminate lending” and “phone banking practices”, which deteriorated their health. Her post reads, “Didn’t the people who met with the LoP tell him that high concentration of corporate credit and indiscriminate lending during UPA tenure had resulted in significant deterioration in the health of PSBs? 

Under @INCIndia, PSBs were treated as ‘ATMs’ for their cronies and shady businessmen. 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 Govt functionaries. 

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 Govt?
Modi Government initiated the ‘4Rs’ strategy and other reforms in the banking sector.”

Key Reforms and Data
Sitharaman shared multiple data points to back her claims:

Recapitalisation: PSBs received a recapitalisation of Rs. 3.26 lakh crore in the last decade, she said.

The post added, “Didn’t the people who met with the LoP tell him that in the last 10 years, the PSBs were supported through recapitalisation of Rs. 3.26 lakh crore?
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.
Didn’t the people who met with the LoP tell him that during the UPA rule these PSBs paid dividends of ₹ 56534 crore?

Financial Inclusion: Highlighting the success of flagship schemes, Sitharaman noted that 54 crore Jan Dhan accounts had been opened, and more than 52 crore collateral-free loans were sanctioned under initiatives like PM MUDRA Yojana, Stand-Up India, PM-SVANidhi, and PM Vishwakarma.
 

'Citizen centric governance and inclusive development is the core principle of 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?

Didn’t the people who met with the LoP tell him that under PM MUDRA scheme, 68% of beneficiaries are women and under PM-SVANidhi scheme, 44% of beneficiaries are women. 
This is a testament to Modi Government’s philosophy of ‘Antyodyay',' FM on X.

Beneficiary Impact: Loans up to Rs. 10 lakh increased by 238%, while loans up to Rs. 50 lakh grew by 300% over 10 years, benefiting women and small borrowers.

"Didn’t the people who met with the LoP tell him that loans up to Rs. 10 lakh have increased by 238% in the last 10 years, and their share in total loans has also increased from 19% to 23%?

Similarly, didn’t the people who met with the LoP tell him that loans up to Rs. 50 lakh have also increased by 300%, increasing their share from 28% to 42% in the last 10 years?” post reads.

Rahul Gandhi’s Allegations
Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi accused the government of turning PSBs into "private financiers" for wealthy corporations. After meeting the banking delegation, he posted, “Public Sector Banks were designed to give every Indian access to credit. The Modi government has turned these lifelines of the masses into private financiers for only the rich and powerful corporations.”