After Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released a list of 50 wilful defaulters accused of cheating banks, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had taken a swipe at the government.
Mumbai| After Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released a list of 50 wilful defaulters accused of cheating banks, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had taken a swipe at the government saying the government had hidden the list from parliament because it included “friends” of the ruling party. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, dismissing the claims made by Gandhi, said the Congress leader should “take tuitions” from his party member and former finance minister P. Chidambaram to understand the distinction between a “write-off” and a “wave-off”.
“@RahulGandhi should take tuition from @PChidambaram_IN on the difference between ‘write off’ and ‘waive off’. @narendramodi govt has not waived off any loan. ‘Write off’ is a normal accounting process. It doesn’t stop recovery or action against defaults,” Javadekar wrote on his Twitter handle.
.@RahulGandhi should take tuition from @PChidambaram_IN on the difference between "write off" and "waive off". @narendramodi govt has not waived off any loan. "Write off" is a normal accounting process. It doesn't stop recovery or action against defaults. pic.twitter.com/0z2jaiEJku
— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) April 29, 2020
The RBI on Tuesday, responding to an RTI application, released a list of top 50 wilful defaulters accused of scamming the banks. The list included companies linked to business tycoons like Mehul Choksi, the Jhunjhunwala brothers, and Vijay Mallya. The RBI clarified that loans amounting to Rs 68,607 crore borrowed by 50 companies have been written off till September 30, 2019.
A write-off technically means “a cancellation from an account of the bad debt or worthless asset”. Written-off loans by banks refer to categorically lost around even though the lender can continue the attempts of compensation and recovery.
Hitting at the central government, Rahul Gandhi had tweeted with his old video from parliament, saying, “”I asked a simple question in parliament – tell me the names of 50 biggest bank scammers. Finance Minister refused to reply. Now RBI has put names of Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and other BJP friends in the list. This is why they hid the truth from parliament.”
In a 13-tweet response, the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman came down heavily on Gandhi labelling the accusations as attempts to “mislead people in a brazen manner” and sensationalize facts.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
