PMC account holders’ concerns will be addressed on priority: Nirmala

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday assured the account holders of the beleaguered Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank (PMC) Bank of support and said that their concerns will be addressed on top priority. She said she had spoken to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor on the issue.

The bank was put under “directions” by the RBI last month due to weak financial health, wherein the central bank capped the deposit withdrawals at ~25,000.

Taking to Twitter, Sitharaman said, “I wish to reiterate that @FinMinIndia will ensure that customers concerns are comprehensively addressed. We understand the justified worries of the customers.”

Earlier this week, she had said, ‘The finance ministry may have nothing to do with it (PMC bank matter) directly because the RBI is the regulator. But I’ve asked the secretaries of my ministry to work with rural development ministry and the urban development ministry to study in detail as to what is happening”.

In Thane, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis told PMC Bank depositors that he would discuss the issue with Prime Minister on October 13.

A group of PMC Bank customers had met Fadnavis on Friday after an election rally where the latter said he could not give them any assurance as the model code of conduct was in force.

Fadnavis said he would be meeting Modi on October 13, and he had prepared a brief on the PMC Bank issue for the meeting.

“After the elections on October 21, we will follow up on this issue and ensure that the bank is bailed out at any cost. It will not meet the same fate as the other co-operative banks,” he said. PMC Bank has been facing a crisis after an alleged ~4,500-crore fraud came to light last month. The bank had allegedly lent over 70% of its ~9,000 crore in loans to nearbankrupt realty player HDIL.

I wish to reiterate that @FinMinIndia will ensure that customers concerns are comprehensively addressed. We understand the justified worries of the customers.

NIRMALA SITHARAMAN, finance minister, in a tweet