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There is a strong debate these days in the country’s politics regarding the financial performance of the Indian banking sector and public sector banks. National President of Samajwadi Party and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav After raising sharp questions on the banking policies and reforms of the Central Government, the Union Finance Ministry has responded in very strong words. The Finance Ministry has clarified that on the back of the government’s visionary policies, strong reforms and banking initiatives, Public Sector Banks (PSBs) have achieved Rs. Highest ever historical net profit of Rs 1.98 lakh crore Have registered. According to the ministry, the health of banks has improved so much that their Gross NPA (GNPA) ratio has fallen to just 1.93 percent, which is the lowest level in several decades.
Finance Ministry bluntly on Akhilesh Yadav’s allegations
This entire controversy started when Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav made a scathing attack on the banking reforms of the central government in the last 12 years. In a statement on Thursday, Akhilesh Yadav had targeted the central government and alleged that the present government has made the country’s banking system ‘worse than a moneylender’.
Akhilesh Yadav had raised many serious issues in support of his allegations. He had taken the government to task over the penalty for not maintaining minimum account balance in banks, demonetization decisions, ever-increasing service charges, corporate loan waiver, easy access to credit for the general public and the treatment of bank employees. Responding to these sharp attacks of the SP chief, the Finance Ministry on Friday shared a series of posts on the social media platform ‘X’ and refuted each and every allegation factually and point wise.
Clarification given on minimum balance, recovery agent and banking access
Responding to Akhilesh Yadav’s allegation of penalty on minimum balance, the Finance Ministry said that as part of the government’s financial inclusion and customer-centric banking reforms, today most of the major public sector banks have either completely waived the penalty charges for non-maintenance of minimum balance in ordinary savings accounts or have greatly reduced them.
Apart from this, on the claims of agents harassing customers during loan recovery, the Ministry clarified that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has very clear and strict instructions. According to the rules, no recovery agent or team of bank employees can intimidate or mentally harass any customer. Talking about rural and remote areas, the Finance Ministry said that to provide easy banking services to every citizen of the country, banking service centers have been established within a radius of just five kilometers, and today almost all the villages of the country are connected to the main banking system.
Government’s stand regarding demonetization and security of bank lockers
Taking a strong stand on the questions raised by the SP chief on the decision of demonetization, the Finance Ministry said that demonetization was a very important and bold economic decision to curb black money, fake currency and illegal cross-border financing. Due to this step, all the transactions of the country came under the purview of the formal financial system, which has given an unprecedented boost to UPI and other digital payment mediums.
At the same time, on the allegations of disappearance or theft of precious metals, gold and silver jewellery, investment certificates and heirloom items from bank lockers, the Ministry clarified that such incidents are extremely exceptional and limited to isolated cases. If the customer suffers any loss due to serious negligence in any service of the bank, then the bank is directly liable for it. According to the strict rules of RBI, in any such situation, there is a provision for the bank to give compensation up to 100 times the annual locker rent to the aggrieved customer.
Strong balance sheet and GNPA reaches lowest level in decades
According to official data released by the Finance Ministry, all the regulatory changes, governance measures and structural reforms taken in the country in the last 12 years have completely turned around the financial health of banks. Today, the balance sheets of public sector banks are very strong, loan discipline has improved and the process of risk management has become precise.
According to the data, By March 31, 2026, the GNPA ratio of the country’s public sector banks will reduce to only 1.93 percent. Has remained, whereas during the financial year 2025-26, the total business of these banks has increased and crossed the figure of Rs 283 lakh crore. The government also says that many visionary steps are being taken including the ‘EASE’ agenda to continuously enhance the operational efficiency and service excellence in the banking sector, as a result of which today public banks are providing more transparent and better services to the public.