No job losses due to merger of public sector banks: Arun Jaitley
New Delhi, Jan 4 : Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said in Lok Sabha that there would be no loss of jobs due to merger of public sector banks.
Earlier this week, the Cabinet approved merger of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank with Bank of Baroda.
Jaitley said that there would be no job losses due to merger of the banks and that the move would create a bigger entity like the State Bank of India (SBI).
The cost of lending could also become cheaper, he added.
During the Question Hour, the minister said that out of the 21 public sector banks, 11 are under PAC (Prompt Corrective Action) framework.
PAC is initiated against banks that have high levels of non-performing assets (NPAs).
Replying to a supplementary question, Jaitley said the curve of non-performing assets would go down and that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code has helped in bringing back around Rs 3 lakh crore into the system.
Jaitley said that the State Bank of India (SBI) and other public sector banks have been making operational profits. They incurred losses due to provisioning for non-performing assets, he added.
With regard to recapitalisation of Public Sector Banks (PSBs), the minister said that Rs 51,533 crore has been infused into them in the current financial year till December 31.
"In the budget estimates of FY 2018-19, Rs 65,000 crore has been allocated for recapitalisation of PSBs and an amount of Rs 51,533 crore has been infused in PSBs till December 31, 2018," he said.
The minister also said that in recent past, Rs 90,000 crore was allocated in the Union Budget and infused in various PSBs by the government during financial year 2017-18.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
In matters concerning liberty of citizens, every single day counts: SC
New Delhi (PTI): Every single day counts in matters concerning the liberty of citizens, the Supreme Court said on Friday while asking the Delhi High Court to decide on the regular bail plea of a businessman in a corruption case related to the now scrapped Delhi excise policy.
The petitioner's regular bail application has been heard by the high court on 40 occasions and now the matter has been adjourned to July 8, a bench of Justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta was told by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for businessman Amandeep Singh Dhall.
"This cannot be that after 40 hearings, you don't decide the regular bail," he said.
The bench noted it has been informed that his regular bail plea was filed in July last year.
"In matters concerning the liberty of citizens, every single day counts. Keeping the matter of regular bail pending after almost 11 months deprives the petitioner of his liberty," the bench said.
"We request the high court to decide the bail application prior to the closure for summer vacations," it said.
Summer vacations in the high court start from June 3. May 31 will be the last working day.
Dhall is an accused in separate cases linked to the excise policy which are being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The ED's money laundering case stems from a CBI FIR.
A trial court had earlier dismissed his regular bail plea in a corruption case lodged by the CBI.
According to the probe agencies, Dhall allegedly conspired with other accused and was "actively" involved in the formulation of the liquor policy and facilitating kickbacks to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its recoupment by the "South Group" through various means.
According to the CBI and the ED, irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy and undue favours extended to licence holders.
The Delhi government implemented the policy on November 17, 2021 and scrapped it at the end of September 2022 amid allegations of corruption.
