Out of power in Uttar Pradesh and left with virtually nothing to do as Parliament is not in session, BSP supremo Mayawati has applied for a banking license from the RBI.
“Behenji’s vast personal wealth is sitting idle in godowns located in classified locations across the country, currently accruing no interest. With the monsoons coming, we are also facing a problem of rats. Lending it out to the needy while simultaneously earning lucrative rates of return on this cash is a win-win proposition for all,” said a BSP spokesperson.
The spokesman further revealed that the proposed Bahujan Bank (BB) will cater to the needs of weaker sections of the society. It’s also being seen as “Dalit Banking” along the lines of “Islamic Banking”.
“Dalit Banking is need of the hour so that financial services can reach thousands of Dalits who previously did not have access to banking,” said the spokesperson. “We plan to give a 2% subsidy on interest rates to all registered Dalits and extend 2-5% cash backed credit cards to them.”
“We will not give loan to manuwaadis,” the spokesperson outlined the principles.
Expectedly, this announcement by Mayawati has caught other political parties on back foot. Congress is most shocked as this is being seen as Mayawati’s version of Direct Cash Transfer scheme, which would stop her vote-bank from moving to Congress.
BJP was too confused to react, while Samajwadi Party has said that such step would provoke bank robberies.
“We will not be responsible for any law and order problem that may arise,” a SP leader warned.
Interestingly, RBI has welcomed the move.
“If more politicians were to divert their personal wealth from godowns and the Swiss Banking System to the Indian Banking System, we would witness a significant rise in the money under circulation and would be able to bring an increasing percentage of our adult population under financial inclusion,” RBI governor told.
However, there is a ‘little’ problem. The minimum paid-up capital for setting up a bank has been pegged at Rs. 500 crores by the RBI, while Maywati’s declared wealth is limited to Rs. 111.6 crores only.
“We plan to raise the remaining capital via the FDI route,” Mayawati declared her new found love for FDI that was seen earlier when her party took a U-turn and decided to support FDI in Retail.
“It’s the same policy; FDI in Retail Banking,” the former CM of UP explained.
It is planned that Mayawati’s statues, numbering 45,673 as per the latest Indian population census, will also be used as ATM dispensing machines to widen the reach of her banking services.
“There will be one little change in the way these ATMs would operate,” Mayawati clarified, “On every 15th January, 10% of the cash withdrawn will be retained by the ATMs as my birthday gift.”
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