SBI heartless, finance minister tells its chairman

New Delhi, Mar 15: Referring to the non-functional accounts of tea garden workers, Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman said that the State Bank of India is heartless and inefficient.

She was referring to the 2.5 lakh bank accounts of tea garden workers in Assam which were non-functional. She was speaking at the financial inclusion outreach programme at Guwahati on February 27, which was organised by the Department of Financial Services along with the concerned State Level Bankers Committees.

In an audio clip of the event, the finance minister asks how soon the accounts could be made functional. An SBI officer in the clip is heard saying that the bank needed clearance from the Reserve Bank of India for these accounts to be made functional. It could be done within a week, the official also says.

'Dont tire me out. SBI chairman, you will meet me in Delhi on this matter and I am not letting this go. This is utter omission of job. I hold you completely responsible for a failure and I shall have a detailed talk with you. You should get the accounts going and not one tea garden worker will suffer because of your obduracy,' the finance minister is also heard saying in the audio clip.