Women’s Bank - Moneylife
Women’s Bank - Moneylife
First let me quote my own comment recorded earlier in response to another article on the same subject @Moneylife itself:
“It is not really Woman’s Bank. FM said, and I quote…”…Can we have a bank that lends mostly to women and women-run business, that supports women SHGs and women’s livelihood, that employs predominantly women, and that addresses gender related aspects of empowerment and financial inclusion? I think we can. I therefore propose to set up India ’s first Women’s Bank as a public sector bank….” The proposal is vague enough for interpretation. It is a ‘toy’ PC can afford. Let India buy it.
Let us remember PC’s earlier ‘avataar’ when he joked that 50 Local Area Banks with 5 crore capital each catering to 2 crore population will bring banks to every door. And RBI took it seriously and kept some engaged processing license applications. Do not really know what happened to some LABs which were really ‘launched’.”
Sucheta, you have brought out the controversies that can arise, if GOI goes ahead with this proposal. A public sector bank has a kind of identity which cannot be made over by giving it a ‘gender-focus’. As you rightly said, specialization is more necessary along the delivery line of services and processes, post-credit, rather than in the business of banking. All these, anyone at very junior level in RBI would have explained to those around FM, if only there was a meaningful exchange of views at the appropriate time before budget announcement.
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