West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee has written to Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, demanding withdrawal of the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill. Calling the Bill as “the biggest assault on the financial security of the poor and middle class of the country”, Banerjee, said it will shatter the trust reposed by people on banking system.
The FRDI Bill, which was tabled in August and now under the scrutiny of Joint Parliamentary Committee, has spurred public debate. Experts have pointed out that the “bail-in” clause in the draft FRDI Bill, 2017 can potentially harm deposits in savings accounts. According to Banerjee, the banking system has failed in managing the sector on sound financial principles, transparency and probity. In order to cover up the failures, the Centre wants the common depositors to forego their life-savings.
Instead of facing the crisis in banking sector from its own resources, the government, as an owner of nationalised banks, is trying to replenish the eroded capital of banks by forcibly taking away small depositors’ savings, she said in the letter.