'Roll back draconian FRDI Bill,' Mamata writes to Jaitley

Kolkata: Demanding a roll-back of the proposed Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written to Union Finance minister Arun Jaitley raising objections on the provisions of the bill. She has termed the bill as the "biggest assault" on the financial security of the poor and middle class of the country.

"It appears that that this Bill will forcibly take away the hard earned life savings of the common people entrusted to the banks, for bailing one section of vested interests, who have siphoned off the loans given to them by the banking system. This is tantamounting to cheating of depositors (the common men and women of our country) for no fault of them. This, in my view, is grossly unfair and totally unethical," Banerjee has written in her letter.

According to Banerjee, the Central government plans to bring this bill in the Winter session of Parliament. She has maintained that it appears from the bill that the banking system has failed to manage banking on sound financial principles and highest norms of transparency and unacceptable. "Now in order to cover up the failure and allow one section of the vested interests to go unpunished, the government of India wants the common people to forego their life-savings. This is really shicking and unaccepatable," she added

The Chief Minister has also raised her apprehension for the farmers and common people with the government planning to implement this bill not only for nationalised banks but the rural and cooperative banks , which are the mainstays for agricultural borrowing in far flung areas.

"It is a travesty that the Government of India as an owner of the nationalised banks is now trying to replenish the eroded capital of banks by forcibly taking away the small depositors' savings, instead of facing the crisis in the banking sector head on from its own resources," Banerjee stated. She further asserted that the common people are severely reeling under the adverse effects of demonetisation and hastily introduced unplanned GST regime.

"I would sincerely appeal to the Government of India to desist from enacting this Draconian Law and withdraw the Bill, so as to ensure that the common people of our country are saved from financial ruin," she pointed out.

In fact, the Trinamool Congress has decided to go all out in protest against FRDI. Banerjee who had chaired the core committee meeting of the party on Saturday at Trinamool Bhavan instructed her Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members to raise their voice against the draconian bill on the floor of the two Houses of Parliament. It has been decided that the party will go out on the streets to protest against the bill. There will be meetings in the districts up to the block level and steps will be taken to make people aware of the bill.