Mamata Banerjee opposes bank deposit bill

Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has asked Union finance minister Arun Jaitley to withdraw the proposed Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2017.

Trinamool Congress has decided to oppose the ‘draconian bill’ both inside and outside Parliament.

Mamata Banerjee wrote that the proposed bill would compromise the financial security and safety of common people on four counts: it would forcibly convert their deposits into equity shares of the bank; it could change the nature of the deposits from one class to another, leading to a change in interest rates or deposit tenures; it could impose a stay on the right to withdraw deposits before maturity; if the Centre wants, it can impose a moratorium on payment of interest and repayment of deposits.

In her 2-page letter, Mamata Banerjee said the bill would take away the savings of common people entrusted to banks. “The common people are anguished at what the bill could do to ruin their lives through the activities of the proposed Financial Resolution Corporation,” she added.