The Congress on Friday demanded that the government present a white paper on the crisis on the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank, fixing accountability of those who responsible for the current crisis. The party also asked the government to lift the limit on withdrawal imposed by the RBI with immediate effect.
Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh at a presser slammed Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s comments that the Ministry of Finance did not have anything directly to do with the bank and that the RBI regulates cooperative banks.
Mr. Vallabh said the BJP could not shrug off responsibility since one of its own members was on the board of the bank. Former Mulund MLA Tara Singh’s son Ranjeet Singh was one of the directors of the bank. He also serves a director on the board of the defaulting Housing Development Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL). Of the loans given by the PMC, 50% were given to companies allegedly allied to HDIL. The Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai Police have arrested Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan, the promoters of HDIL.
“Why did the board of directors of the bank not see the exposure risk that the bank was put to, why were the early signals ignored? The government should come up with a white paper explaining all these things to the general public,” Mr. Vallabh said. He also said the government should ensure that none of borrowers of the bank were allowed to leave the country.
Published - October 11, 2019 11:17 pm IST
