Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday that the UPA government had “nationalised corruption” and “privatised taxpayers’ money.” This was in response to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s comments earlier in the day that the Centre was “privatising profit and nationalising loss”.
In a tweet supporting the strike by the public sector bank (PSB) employees against privatisation, Mr. Gandhi said: “GOI is privatising profit & nationalising loss. Selling PSBs to Modicronies gravely compromises India’s financial security. I stand in solidarity with the striking bank employees.”
When asked to comment on Mr. Gandhi’s tweet at a briefing on Cabinet decisions, Ms. Sitharaman said, “Rahul Gandhi has probably outsourced his comments to a very hardcore communist.” The comments, which she termed “two-liners”, did not help the situation and Mr. Gandhi should have engaged in a serious discussion instead, she said.
“Nationalising corruption and privatising tax payers’ money for the betterment of one family is all that Rahul Gandhi will have to take as a reply for that tweet, which probably some outsourced fellow in his team is feeding him with,” she said.
Referring to the nationalisation of banks by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1969, Ms. Sitharaman said, “His [Mr. Gandhi’s] dadi [grandmother] would have probably nationalised the banks, but nationalising of loss in the banks was during UPA’s time”.
She said Mr. Gandhi should do “some more intense homework” before speaking.
Assurance to workers
Ms. Sitharaman said the interest of all employees of State-owned banks that were likely to be privatised would be protected. Replying to a query, she clarified that public sector presence would continue in the banking space.
“...we have announced public enterprise policy based on which we have identified those four areas in which we said government presence, public sector presence, will be there, and bare minimum presence is what we have said, in financial institutions are also there.
“Meaning, even in financial sector we will still have the presence of public sector enterprise... not all of them are going to be privatised,” she said.
Ms. Sitharaman said the government would ensure that these privatised institution would also continue to function. “After the privatisation, we will also have to ensure that the staff or the personnel who are there, their every interest will be protected.”
In her Budget Speech on February 1, Ms. Sitharaman had announced that the government proposed to take up privatisation of two public sector banks (PSBs) and one general insurance company in the year 2021-22.
Nine bank unions are observing a two-day strike opposing the government’s policy to privatise lenders. Tuesday was the last day of their strike.
(With inputs from PTI)
