New Delhi: Several prominent figures from across the Twitter spectrum, including Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, rose to defend and laud Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over a viral audio clip where she is purportedly heard lashing out at SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar.
In the audio clip, which is believed to date back to February, Sitharaman is purportedly heard labelling state-run SBI “heartless” and “inefficient” after issues related to KYC norms rendered the bank accounts of around 2.5 lakh tea workers non-functional.
This had made the implementation of the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme for tea garden workers difficult.
The purported comments were said to have been made at a meeting between Sitharaman and bankers in the last week of February on issues faced by Assam and the other northeastern states. The meeting was attended by Sarma and officials of the department of financial services. The clip was uploaded on YouTube Friday and widely shared Saturday.
Taking to Twitter Saturday, Sarma expressed his gratitude to Sitharaman for “championing the cause of these deprived workers”.
4/5 I'm grateful to @nsitharaman for championing the cause of these deprived workers. After her intervention, Assam Govt is working closely with the public sector banks of the region to ensure financial inclusion for the most underprivileged sections of society. @FinMinIndia
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) March 14, 2020
He also took exception to a statement issued by the All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC), a major trade union, against Sitharaman on 13 March.
5/5 The state of Assam will remain eternally grateful to our Union FM Smt @nsitharaman for such proactive stance abd I strongly oppose the statement
given by by All India Bank Officers Association @FinMinIndia @AssamFinDept pic.twitter.com/5EgcBpTxZT— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) March 14, 2020
The statement, which sought to condemn the “humiliation” of SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar, was subsequently withdrawn. Sitharaman later tweeted the withdrawal message, which said the statement had been “erroneously issued”.
https://t.co/5nRSVG9pxW pic.twitter.com/EIgwa9sZ5K
— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) March 14, 2020
Also Read: In just 4 months as finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman has become face of India’s slowdown
Many jump to Sitharaman’s defence
Sarma was just one of several people who sought to defend Sitharaman, who is known to lose her cool, over her purported comments at the Guwahati meeting.
Political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla said he admired Sitharaman for “standing up for the tea plantation workers who were suffering”.
I heard this clip & must say: I ADMIRE @nsitharaman ji for STANDING UP for the tea plantation workers who were suffering.
These are the poorest of poor @FinMinIndia & Nirmalaji were helping them. I may be against the BJP & a critic of @nsitharaman ji but here she must be PRAISED. https://t.co/xDBeYSLj7a— Tehseen Poonawalla Official (@tehseenp) March 15, 2020
NDTV’s Nidhi Razdan tweeted that even though the Finance Minister might have been a bit harsh, she was “standing up for the rights of tea garden workers facing official apathy”.
Heard the audio and while the FM may have been a bit harsh in her tone, she was standing up for the rights of tea garden workers facing official apathy. I wonder if we would've seen this same commentary if the FM was a man @nsitharaman https://t.co/EesfilCEZI
— Nidhi Razdan (@Nidhi) March 15, 2020
Nistula Hebbar of The Hindu said the criticism lobbed at Sitharaman over the audio clip was unwarranted, saying male ministers would have been lauded for being aggressive on such an issue.
Just heard the @nsitharaman tape at the financial inclusion meeting in Guwahati. Seemed to be an impassioned intervention for financial inclusion of tea garden workers. Male ministers would have been (and have been) lauded for being aggressive on this issue.
— Nistula Hebbar (@nistula) March 15, 2020
Journalist Rohini Singh said lethargy “about operationalising accounts of tea garden workers” was “pretty heartless”.
Frankly I do think the SBI chief deserved to be told off. Being lethargic about operationalising accounts of tea garden workers is pretty heartless! https://t.co/y0eVsRCZ7g
— Rohini Singh (@rohini_sgh) March 14, 2020
However, there were critics too, prominent among them journalist-activist Sucheta Dalal, who said PSU chiefs were not “serfs”.
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