NPAs: People must know facts

The Central Information Commission’s notice to the Reserve Bank, PMO and finance ministry to explain the action taken ( or not taken) on former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan’s 2015 letter to the government on fraudulent NPAs is welcome. A stern reminder was urgently needed as the commission tries to break through an opaque wall on a matter to do with how public money was made to disappear in the bank NPAs. The studied silence of all parties over the banks’ bad loans appears part of strategy not to take any responsibility for huge amounts running into several lakh crores. Most of that is said to have been lost beyond redemption, much of it owed to favours to crony capitalists and a lot being just outright fraud.

The CIC notice’s wide sweep seeking information across the top echelons of government and financial management is a follow- up measure as there was such reluctance on their part to even follow Supreme Court directions. The names of wilful defaulters are being sought although this might be met with stonewalling by the authorities. The point is that the money of all nationalised banks belongs to the people of India, a fact that seems to have escaped the thinking of those who control the lending institutions. Those who have been placed on notice cannot simply turn a Nelson’s eye on a matter of such public importance. People may not be as interested in the politics or politicians behind the bad/ fraudulent lending, but may wish to know just how much of their money had gone down the drain. This is owed to the people of India.