Rahul Gandhi questions health of PSBs, Nirmala Sitharaman says claims are baseless | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday hit out at Congress Neta Rahul Gandhi for making ‘baseless statements’ on the state of the United States. public sector banks (PSBs) say the country’s banking sector, especially state-owned banks, has seen a “remarkable turnaround” under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
She was responding to comments made by LoP in Lok Sabha on were to serve the people. effective.
Rahul also said that due to staff shortages and the ‘toxic working environment’, PSBs are expected to achieve unachievable targets without providing a level playing field.
Sitharaman, in a series of posts on She also alleged that during the Congress regime, PSBs were treated as “ATMs” for their cronies and shady businessmen.
The FM said PSBs have recruited 3.94 lakh employees since 2014 and as of October 2024, 96.6% of officers are in post and 96.7% of subordinate/subsidized staff are in place, indicating meager vacancies which are also fulfilled.
Reacting to Rahul’s accusation of ‘understaffing’ and ‘toxic work environment’, Sitharaman asked, ‘Didn’t the people who met the LoP tell him that recruitment drives and Rozgar Mela initiatives have filled lakhs of vacancies in all central government departments? including banks and PSBs?”
The FM said that it was actually during the UPA era that bank employees were harassed and forced to give loans to goons through ‘phone banking’ by then Congress-led UPA government officials.
Sitharaman also highlighted that women are excelling as MDs, CEOs and industry leaders. The Modi government’s commitment to women-led development is reflected not only in policy but also in practice, the FM added.
Rahul had met a delegation of the All India Banking Officers Confederation and went to X to draw the government’s attention to the plight of the PSBs. “The Modi government must stop using PSBs as an unlimited source of money for their fraudulent friends. A public sector bank also has more to offer than a dividend check to the government at the end of the year,” he said on X.