SBI – Adani Capital Partnership is Disastrous – MK Faizy

New Delhi, 20th Jan 2022: MK Faizy, National President of Social Democratic Party of India took strong exception to the State Bank of India (SBI) – Adani Capital partnership in the guise of helping farmers to avail loans. This nexus is highly disastrous to the public banking sector and the farmers and so, this agreement should be abandoned, demanded Faizy.

Social Democratic Party of India has raised objection to the decision of allowing corporate industrial magnates to enter the banking sector, from the outset itself. The country has been witnessing the Sangh Parivar government selling out the public properties to the corporate giants since it assumed power at the centre. The central government has never been committed to the country or the welfare of the people. They have been servile to their crony corporate, and it has been the corporate, not the elected representatives of the people, ruling the country since 2014.

Economic experts say that this agreement is of dire consequences to the banking sector. The already signed partnership is said to be “…for co-lending to farmers for purchase of tractors and farm implements.” According to the SBI chairman, “this partnership shall help SBI to expand customer base as well as connect with the underserved farming segment of the country and further contribute towards the growth of India’s farm economy. We will continue to work with more NBFCs in order to reach out to maximum customers in far flung areas and provide last mile banking services.”

SBI has a vast network of 22,219 branches, 2,45,652 employees and 71,968 business correspondents across the country. And so, the chairman’s statement that the agreement would help to expand customer base is baseless and is just a futile attempt to justify the anti-common- man agreement. The public sector banks including the State Bank of India have the reputation of socially committed services to the common people. The private sector non-banking industrial firms have no such social commitment. Their only target is profiteering. Most of the NBFCs are corporates notorious for bad debts to the public sector banks after availing huge amounts as loans.

Adani group is a strong corporate that intervene in the agricultural sector. So, it is evident that the present nexus is for the benefit of Adani group and to the detriment of the farmers. The same was the case of amending farm laws which the government was compelled to withdraw following the steadfast fight of the farmers on the streets for around a year. The agreement was entered into without having any consultation with the farmers, whom this agreement would adversely affect the most.

RBI should end giving permission to NBFCs to begin financial firms and cancel the current agreement with the Adani Capital for the benefit of the farmers, the backbone of the country, urged Faizy.