Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said India’s banking sector is now one of the strongest in the world, thanks to the turnaround scripted by his government in the last nine years after scams broke the back of the sector in the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime.
Amid criticism over a decline in government-sector jobs, Modi on Saturday distributed over 70,000 appointment letters to new recruits in the sector at a virtual Rozgar Mela. As many as 44 places across the country were connected for the event to the Prime Minister’s address.
Modi emphasised that the next 25 years will be extremely crucial for the new recruits and the nation as they strive to make India a developed nation by 2047. He also reiterated that India is going to become one of the top 3 economies in the world. “Becoming the third largest economy in the world will be a monumental achievement for India”, Modi said highlighting that it will give rise to employment opportunities in every sector and also boost the income of the common citizens.
On the banking sector, he said the asset quality of public sector banks (PSBs) improved significantly with gross and net NPAs at 4.97% and 1.24% respectively in March 2023. During 2022-23, PSBs earned a record aggregate net profit of around Rs 1.05 trillion, almost three times the level in 2013-14, he noted.
Modi said steps like strengthening the management of the PSBs, stress on professionalism and consolidation of small banks into large banks indeed helped. “By acts like the Bankruptcy Code, banks were protected from losses. Furthermore, by tightening the grip over those who looted the government property by attaching their property, the banks known for losses and NPAs are now being discussed for their record profit,” he said.
By insuring deposits up to Rs 5 lakh, more than 99% of deposits became safe leading to a renewed trust in the banking system, the prime minister added.
He hailed the efforts of the banking sector for opening 500 million Jan Dhan Accounts, which was a great help in transferring money into the accounts of crores of women during the pandemic.
In a written reply in Parliament in July last year, the government had said that of the 220.5 million applications received from 2014-15 to 2021-22, only 0.72 million or 0.33% were recommended for appointment in different Central government departments. A 2020 circular by the expenditure department seeking spending controls led to the allegation that a freeze was imposed on new recruitment in the government sector.
The Prime Minister said the recent Niti Aayog report has found that 130 million Indians were brought above the poverty line in the last five years. “When (government) schemes reached the poor, their morale also increased. This success is a symbol of the fact that if together we increase the efforts to remove poverty from India, then poverty can be completely eliminated from India. And certainly, every government employee of the country has a big role in this”, he added.
