Congress to oppose sale of public sector banks, PSUs

NEW DELHI: Hitting out at the government over the selling of public sector banks (PSB), Congress on Tuesday said that it will not allow the reckless selling of PSBs and alleged that the Modi government is now all set to completely exit from public sector banks, which is an “ill thought out strategy with dangerous repercussions.”

Addressing a press conference, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said, “The Congress will oppose this reckless sale of strategic profit making assets, including the complete exit from public sector banks which are being sold. We will tell them to sell those assets which have been built in eight years.”

The party spokesperson further said that banks were nationalised in 1969 which did not just break the monopoly of a few private lenders but ensured that banking reaches the last mile. The state-owned banks do priority lending to sectors like agriculture and small industries that private banks shy away from, the party leader said.

“They have helped in the development of backward areas and have opened branches in far flung regions of the country where no private banks would venture. PSBs are not just financial institutions, they are actually agents of social empowerment. But this fire sale of strategic and profit making assets built over the last 75 years raises some serious questions. What is the explanation for the disastrous IPO of LIC with losses of over USD18 billion, almost one third of its valuation,” Shrinate said.

Taking credit for forcing the Modi government to halt reckless PSU sale in the last two months, she said, “The BPCL sale has been called off after two of three investors withdrew, deterred by faulty fuel-pricing policies and various uncertainties. The sale of Pawan Hans Ltd is now on hold after 51 per cent stake was sold to a company that had failed to honour a previous bid for an insolvent company, and the NCLT Kolkata had ruled against it.”