Urban Mirror Correspondent
Delhi, November 03: With 2019 Lok Sabha election fast approaching the NDA government has come out with another election stunt of making promise to small businesses for providing loans to them in less than one hour, precisely 59 minutes as the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced. The LGP said that credit facilities to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) has long been a major problem with this sector but without proper safeguard this doesnot appear to be feasible.
The spokesman of the party said here on Saturday that with on-going hostilities between the RBI and NDA government over functional autonomy and mounting NPAs the move is aimed at further putting pressure on banking industry. The spokesman said plan for online sanctioning of loans up to Rs one crore within one hour is simply aimed at wooing a vast political constituency in the run-up to the parliamentary elections. Among the major issues which have led to tussle with RBI, increase in credit flow to non-banking financial companies, which are involved in large-scale funding of MSME, has also been raised by the NDA government, the spokesman said, adding the RBI has strongly opposed this demand due to complaints.
The spokesman said that NDA government outreach programme with quick loaning facilities based on income tax and GST returns is bound the create problems to the baking sector and may further increase NPA burden. The spokesman said credit flow to the small businesses is vital for their survival but in the absence of honesty, transparency and good governance such a plan in the name of so-called ease of doing business would further complicate the situation. Laying stress on checks and balances in providing loans even at a small level, the spokesman said public money in banks could not be given without proper guarantee. The spokesman said already Rs ten lakh crore public money has turned into bad loan and most of the banks are bleeding for this reason. There is no doubt that MSME has hardly been priority area of banks and they needed support, but the NDA government doesnot have right to put people’s money at a risk without adequate safeguard, the spokesman said and added rampant corruption in baking sector in collusion with politicians and entrepreneurs has already played havoc on the economy.
