Bank privatisation is nothing but just a political agenda, says former Andhra MLC Nageshwar

Sharing his views on the second day of the month-long webinars to commemorate the '52nd anniversary of Bank Nationalisation', Nageshwar, a two-time MLC and a professor at Osmania University raised the existence of a deep-rooted political agenda in the banking system.

He pin-pointed towards the negligible participation of private banks in the welfare schemes and service to the backwards section and elaborated on the major contribution of PSBS
towards society and their active involvement in the government's schemes.

In an attempt to break the myths of the inefficiency of PSBS in comparison to private sector banks Dr Prof. K. Nageshwar said, “A public sector bank deals with Jan Dhan accounts, No-frill accounts and undertakes the social objectives of the Government, due to which their profits stand affected.

"Hence, there should not be a comparison between the Public Sector Banks and the private sector banks. There is no level playing field,” he added.

The speech took a deep dive into the ground reasons and stated the fine points that take a toll on the health of public sector banks.

“Even though all the Public Sector Banks are earning Operating Profits, but due to the provisions for the Non-Performing Assets, bad loans, they incur net losses. When corporate loans are buried under the carpet, it is called written-off, and when agricultural loans are written-off, it is branded as a loan waiver.

"It is not the loan waivers to the poor borrowers and agriculturists that cause the losses of the banks but only due to the write-off of Corporate loans," Prof. Nageshwar said.

When a loan is not repaid and when the borrower defaults repayment of the loan, it is a bad loan as all of us know. But one cannot understand, how this bad loan can be called an asset of the Bank, he wondered,

The session further highlighted the nexus between the top management of the banks, with the politicians on the one side, and the big corporates on the other.

While concluding the session, the Speaker suggested that the domestic savings kept as deposits be utilized to equip the vibrant public sector to improve the economy of the country.