'India will pay the price for following WB diktats'

Bangalore, May 20 (UNI) The nation, which towed the policies of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, will make the people pay the price and struggle even for basic needs, Kerala Planning Commission Vice-President Prabhat Patnaik said today.

Addressing the General Council of Canara Bank Staff Union here, he said it would become inevitable for the country to heed the conditions laid by the foreign development banks. ''They will extend loans and make you agree to their policies,'' he warned.

Prof Patanik said that when banks were nationalised, the aim was to extend loans at lower interest to the priority sector and help the overall development of the country. But globalisation had resulted in even public sector banks changing their policies, detrimental to the overall interests of the people and the nation.

''The public sector banks are funnelling their money into stock market in the name of efficiently meeting the growth target. Their priorities have shifted and people have become the sufferers.

International financial institutions are responsible for all this,'' he said.

He said there was another danger lurking on the financial horizon called Foreign Micro Financial Institutions, which were expected to enter the market in large numbers soon. ''These institutions, promoted by NGOs, will accept money from foreign institutions and lend it to people of their choice. They should be opposed as they will affect the economy,'' he warned.

CITU Secretary W R Varadarajan and Bank Employees Federation of India General Secretary Pradip Biswas were also present.

UNI