In this episode of Editorial, Mr. Sujit Nair discusses the loans written off by banks in recent years. He highlights the issue of forceful recovery practices faced by poor and middle-class Indians. Mr. Nair compares this to the preferential treatment often given to wealthy borrowers, shedding light on the contrasting experiences of the rich and the economically disadvantaged.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
[00:00:00] Namaskar! Welcome to another episode of Editorial. One more topic about finance, one more topic about poor India and rich India and one more question to our finance minister.
[00:00:18] You see in the last 5 years bank has recovered only 18.5% of the total write-offs.
[00:00:25] Only 18.5% of the bank has recovered.
[00:00:28] That's right written off.
[00:00:31] You see the total write-off during fiscal year 2019 to 2020 to fiscal year 2023 to 2024 was over 9.9 lakh crores.
[00:00:48] 9.9 lakh crores has been written off.
[00:00:53] Maaf kardiya.
[00:00:55] Written off.
[00:00:56] Now, I want you to think, I want you to answer and if you have got 1 rupee write-off, I am sure a lot of my audience would have taken loans.
[00:01:09] Did you all get 1 rupee write-off on your loans?
[00:01:14] If not, then who, pray tell me, is getting this 9.9 lakh crores write-off?
[00:01:25] Who amongst us is getting this?
[00:01:28] Because common people,
[00:01:30] No, it's getting this.
[00:01:32] that's the question I want to ask tonight.
[00:01:34] Let's get right into the show.
[00:01:39] So like I said,
[00:01:41] 9.9 lakh crores of rupees written off.
[00:01:45] See the graph of the screen,
[00:01:48] It basically tells you how much money is normally written off.
[00:01:52] 2019, 20,
[00:01:53] 2020, 21,
[00:01:55] 2021,
[00:01:55] 22,
[00:01:56] The money written off versus the recovery of the written off account.
[00:02:00] You see the difference in the recovery and the written off.
[00:02:04] And you know where most of those recoveries come from?
[00:02:07] Most of those recoveries come from poor people, middle class people.
[00:02:11] Because most of the recovery agents goes to those middle class people, their residences,
[00:02:17] their housing colonies, their offices,
[00:02:20] goons are sent to their offices, their residences, their farms,
[00:02:25] and the money is taken from them.
[00:02:27] The recovery is done from them.
[00:02:29] Our finance minister has been saying this.
[00:02:32] But of course,
[00:02:33] this recovery harassment is something which I want to very clearly put it on the table.
[00:02:40] Very welcome if the honorable member has instances of harassment going on somewhere,
[00:02:45] which we will definitely attend to.
[00:02:46] But no,
[00:02:48] the NPA numbers I'm willing to give here,
[00:02:51] because the honorable members asked,
[00:02:53] I will certainly give it.
[00:02:54] But recovery harassment is something which we have to do.
[00:02:58] We've been very closely monitoring, and I can say for sure, the public sector banks are very closely monitored.
[00:03:05] So also they end BFCs.
[00:03:07] But as I said, if there are cases, we are very willing to hear it.
[00:03:10] Now, she says I am not aware of any such forcible recovery or inhuman recovery.
[00:03:18] Well, if there is, let me know.
[00:03:21] And I can give you 100 cases where there has been forcible recovery.
[00:03:26] I am very surprised how all these information doesn't reach the finance minister of this country.
[00:03:31] You see, just recently, just recently, I'll give you some headlines.
[00:03:37] Just recently,
[00:03:39] exercise department employee in Mumbai dies by suicide over loan repayment harassment.
[00:03:45] Exercise employment department employee.
[00:03:47] You know, no sleep for 45 days.
[00:03:50] A loan company, Bajaj Finance Company worker, manager incidentally died.
[00:03:56] Because that was the kind of pressure that the company put for recovering of loans.
[00:04:01] Man commits suicide.
[00:04:02] Villagers alleged bank loan repayments and harassment.
[00:04:06] These are headlines, all December 2024 headlines.
[00:04:10] That's today's headlines, exercise department employee.
[00:04:13] No sleep for 45 days.
[00:04:14] Again, October 1st, 2024.
[00:04:16] Man commits suicide, December 8th, 2024.
[00:04:18] Recent headlines, all this.
[00:04:20] If it reaches us, if it reaches you, why doesn't it reach the finance minister of this country?
[00:04:27] Okay, take care.
[00:04:28] Chalo, that's one.
[00:04:30] My problem is,
[00:04:32] if you have paid a loan,
[00:04:34] if you are an NBFC or a bank, you paid a loan,
[00:04:36] please,
[00:04:37] recover that loan.
[00:04:39] That is your prerogative.
[00:04:40] But, what is unfortunate,
[00:04:42] is that,
[00:04:43] the recovery process,
[00:04:45] only happens with common man.
[00:04:48] The goons only comes to a common man's house.
[00:04:51] Vijay Malaya's house, no goon went.
[00:04:54] Nirav Modi's house, no goons go.
[00:04:57] Nobody sends people to their house,
[00:04:59] or if they send, they will be kicked out of that house.
[00:05:03] I've got at least two people who I know,
[00:05:06] who lost their houses,
[00:05:08] houses, place where they stayed,
[00:05:11] because they couldn't pay a loan.
[00:05:15] COVID had broken their back,
[00:05:18] and their business could not recover.
[00:05:20] They couldn't pay the EMI,
[00:05:22] they couldn't service the EMI.
[00:05:23] Their houses, places they stay,
[00:05:26] were taken away from them.
[00:05:27] They are staying in rented apartments currently.
[00:05:31] Fact,
[00:05:31] truth.
[00:05:33] Why are the problems of middle class,
[00:05:36] not considered?
[00:05:40] Not taken into cognizance?
[00:05:43] And,
[00:05:44] kind of given relief too.
[00:05:47] Why only the rich man gets all the relief?
[00:05:49] All the haircuts?
[00:05:51] Why,
[00:05:52] poor man's house?
[00:05:54] It is only the rich man who gets all the bank haircuts,
[00:05:57] wherein you get all the discounts.
[00:05:59] And the point that I am asking you is,
[00:06:01] where is this 9.9 lakh crores?
[00:06:04] Who got the benefit of that write-off?
[00:06:08] Who got the benefit of that write-off?
[00:06:10] I want to believe that most of the benefit,
[00:06:13] that most of the people who benefited from that write-off,
[00:06:16] were either politicians or large capitalists.
[00:06:21] Huge people.
[00:06:22] People with a lot of money.
[00:06:24] Have you ever seen a Karodhapati,
[00:06:27] a billionaire come on the streets,
[00:06:30] because he had huge bank loan to pay?
[00:06:33] I have seen common man come on the streets,
[00:06:36] because he or she couldn't pay a huge bank loan.
[00:06:39] That's the difference.
[00:06:40] That's the point that I am trying to make through this editorial.
[00:06:46] The finance minister can say what she wants.
[00:06:49] Even last year she had mentioned something similar.
[00:06:52] I know, I have heard complaints about how
[00:06:58] very mercilessly
[00:06:59] the paying back
[00:07:01] has been followed up by some banks,
[00:07:04] whether they are public sector banks or private sector banks.
[00:07:08] The government has made sure through the RBI also,
[00:07:12] to instruct such banks that such harsh steps should not be taken,
[00:07:18] and that they should have approached this whole matter with a humanity in mind and sensitivity in mind.
[00:07:24] That instruction has been given to all the banks, be it private or public.
[00:07:28] But the fact remains that she has not been able to stop this harassment.
[00:07:36] Everybody has to pay their loans back.
[00:07:39] Every citizen of this country,
[00:07:41] it's their responsibility to pay back the money that they have taken from banks.
[00:07:46] There is no debate on that.
[00:07:47] There is no debate on that.
[00:07:50] But my question is,
[00:07:53] why is it that the middle class,
[00:07:57] the banks, the NBFCs,
[00:08:00] go to whatever limit, whatever level,
[00:08:03] embarrassments, threats, whatever level,
[00:08:07] to recover that money?
[00:08:09] Is it because a middle class has no value?
[00:08:13] Is a poor man's law different to a rich man's law?
[00:08:18] This is the question I wanted to ask you.
[00:08:20] This is the question I wanted to ask you.
[00:08:22] You see, look at it.
[00:08:25] SBI.
[00:08:27] SBI, this is from 16 December 2024.
[00:08:31] SBI has loans written off to the tune of 1,46,652 crores.
[00:08:39] Punjab National Bank written off 82,449 crores.
[00:08:44] Union Bank of India 82,323 crores.
[00:08:47] Bank of Baroda 77,177 crores.
[00:08:51] And Bank of India 45,467 crores.
[00:08:56] This is what our public sector units are writing off.
[00:09:02] This is what our banks are writing off.
[00:09:05] My last question.
[00:09:06] And my last question is political.
[00:09:10] All this crony capitalism,
[00:09:13] all this
[00:09:15] UPA government trying to fund crony capitalism,
[00:09:18] trying to create people who can take money and run away from this country,
[00:09:23] or helping people to take away money and run away from this country.
[00:09:26] All this we heard since 2014.
[00:09:28] Today we are in 2024.
[00:09:29] How are we different?
[00:09:31] What is the difference?
[00:09:36] 9,60,000 crores today also.
[00:09:38] Are we saying all this are 10 year back loans?
[00:09:41] And we couldn't correct something that happened 10 years back even today?
[00:09:46] Now whose fault?
[00:09:48] Now who is the crony capitalist?
[00:09:51] Now who is helping these capitalists?
[00:09:54] Now who is helping these banks to give such loans?
[00:09:57] And if a bank like SBI, like PNB, like Union Bank is not capable to control the people who are giving loans to,
[00:10:07] the corporates who are giving loans to, the large conglomerates who are giving loans to,
[00:10:13] they are not able to recover.
[00:10:14] What is the action taken against the SBI chairman?
[00:10:17] I have not seen one bank chairman, one PSU bank chairman sacked because he couldn't collect his recover his loan.
[00:10:27] That Bajaj Finance gentleman, that role liquor recovery manager, he died of stress.
[00:10:33] But the chairman of a bank that has given 1,46,652 crores and cannot recover, he's okay, he's chilled, no problem.
[00:10:46] How is this?
[00:10:47] What kind of law is this?
[00:10:51] This is the point I wanted to make today.
[00:10:54] Till I see you next time, that's tomorrow at 10.
[00:10:57] Namaskar.
[00:10:59] Stay ahead with our cutting edge news app.
[00:11:02] Instantly access the latest shots in just one minute and breaking news in just 50 words.
[00:11:08] Download now for a smarter, faster news experience.
[00:11:11] Thank you.