Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan on Friday hailed the Government direction to state-run banks to act without fear or favour and ignore extraneous considerations in their commercial operations.
It was a landmark decision, Rajan said, speaking to students of the RBI-promoted Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research during the convocation ceremony. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier this week pledged not to interfere in the functioning of public sector banks. At the concluding session of the two-day bankers' meet 'Gyan Sangam' to chalk out banking reforms, he had also called for ending "lazy banking" and said banks must prioritise lending to employment-generating sectors.
Subsequently, the Finance Ministry acted on Prime Minister's promise by issuing a direction to public sector banks to act without fear or favour and to ignore extraneous considerations in commercial decisions. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who was the chief guest at the convocation, congratulated the institute for "the gender disparity" in favour of the women. Over 70 per cent of the students who passed out on Friday were women.