There will be no witch-hunt of bankers who take genuine commercial decisions in the normal course of business, according to Anurag Singh Thakur, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs.

This observation comes in the backdrop of credit growth in the banking sector slowing to 8.85 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) as on October 25, 2019, against 14.41 per cent as on October 26, 2018. “To become a $5-trillion economy by FY2025, banks have an important role to play. Therefore, whatever decisions you take, if they are genuine commercial decisions, then you can take them without any fear.

“There will be no witch-hunt against you. Our government gives you this guarantee,” said Thakur at Union Bank of India’s 101st foundation day late last evening.

Recognising that the decisions bankers take in the normal course of business and in good faith (without any element of corruption) to increase the business of the bank as well as that of its customers could go wrong, Thakur said they need not worry in such cases.

“That is why an internal advisory committee has been set up in public sector banks to classify cases as vigilance and non-vigilance cases. The decision taken by the committee and the CVO (chief vigilance officer) will be final. Therefore, you need not worry,” the Minister added.

Meanwhile, to commemorate its 101st foundation day, Union Bank of India launched three products – Union Sampurna (a technology-oriented ecosystem to provide one-stop solution for the farm sector); E-Way Bills (a digital invoice validation service to ensure quality underwriting, speedier disbursements, and overall ease of doing business); and ATM Geo Locator within its mobile banking app, UMobile, which provides real-time status of its ATMs.

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