The finance minister's clarifications on the FRDI Bill don’t reassure bank depositors. How does it provide “additional protection” to depositors? Will it restrain banks from reckless lending?

On the contrary, will not easy resolution with depositors’ money act as an incentive? The specific question to be addressed is whether bank deposits will be used along with other liabilities to save ailing banks. Senior citizens who have deposited their life savings in banks and are dependent on interest are a worried lot.

The Bill, if passed in the present form, is bound to result in flight of deposits from banks.

Manohar Alembath

Kannur, Kerala

The clarification is not convincing. The public is entitled to know the full details of the recommendation. It is not clear if a higher deposit insurance limit would be set and above that deposits could be appropriated in any manner including for bailing out a failed bank.

Several bail-outs of PSBs have taken place using taxpayers’ money. The very fact that PSBs are owned by the Government shows there is no accountability attached to banks. The Government should try to recover delinquent loans and strengthen asset quality rather than thinking of fleecing the public.

Srinivasan Velamur

Chennai

Raise the level

With the recent decrease in interest rates in the financial markets and banks, and with NPAs on the rise, it is in the interest of banks to have more deposits to run the show with goodwill from the public. Therefore deposit insurance must be at a practical and realistic level of ₹1 crore. To attract more deposits banks must offer an additional interest of 1per cent to senior citizens not only in deposits but also in their savings bank accounts to make it more attractive than other modes of investments especially small savings schemes. Then bank deposits will become the ideal investment for those who do not wish to take risks owing to market fluctuations

Mahesh Kapasi

New Delhi

Aadhaar’s messed up

Regarding ‘Will Aadhaar lead to financial exclusion?’ by Aarati Krishnan (Decembear 8), there is not an iota of doubt that there are serious demerits in the Aadhaar scheme. A one-size-fits-all approach to make Aadhar encompass many aspects of daily life will undermine the scheme itself. Flexibility has to be shown in adapting the scheme to certain constituents of society such as those whose fingerprints cannot be read, and the disabled by adopting alternate authentication methods. Connectivity has to be strengthened to ensure seamless transactions. Prosecutions for leaking Aadhaar data and submitting fake documents have to be fast-tracked.

Swarup Chandrashekar

Bengaluru

The article does a good job of articulating possible problems in maintaining Aadhaar numbers. The matter deserves careful study by the Government and rectification of problems. But a step like providing Aadhaar to all citizens is a well-meant step. A step like this may create minor problems but a continuous examination of all the consequences occurring due to the introduction of Aadhaar can remove problems.

TR Anandan

Coimbatore

Mind your language

The political discourse in surcharged election atmosphere is usually bad and so Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar’s remark targeting the Prime Minister is not surprising. The party suspended him but the damage has been done. Leaders must exercise self-restraint to ensure that the political discourse is decent.

M Jeyaram

Sholavandan, Tamil Nadu

Wait and watch

The neutral monetary policy stance suggests that the RBI is concerned about inflation accelerating and also perceives certain risks on the fiscal front. The Central bank needs to be commended for stubbornly sticking to its stance and not buckling under pressureSometimes not taking a decision also amounts to a good decision.

Srinivasan Umashankar

Nagpur

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