(Rptg, correcting date in dateline)
New Delhi, June 13 (UNI) Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday joined issue with Congress president Rahul Gandhi with displaying ignorance on banking norms and ridiculed Mr Gandhi's claim that loan worth Rs 2.5-lakh-crore has been "waived".
"In dynastic parties political positions are heritable. Unfortunately wisdom is not heritable. It has to be acquired through learning," Mr Jaitley wrote in a strongly worded article on Facebook.
Mr Jaitley also seemed to have worded the heading carefully: "Is Congress Becoming Ideologyless? Is Anti-Modism its only ideology?"
Finance Minister wrote: "Why does he (Rahul Gandhi) believe that 2.5-lakh-crore of bank loans have been waived? Is it because of his inability to understand that where Performing Asset is not serviced by the debtor, after ninety days it becomes Non Performing Asset. Its chances of recovery as per RBI guidelines, decline. There is a shift in the column that takes place and the bank has to make provisioning on the basis that the possibility of recovery declines. But the debtor liability remains. There is no waiver.
"For a President of a national party not to understand this basic procedure of bank functioning should be a matter of concern to the entire party as also the country," he said.
Mr Jaitley also targeted former Finance Minister P Chdambaram and wrote: "A few weeks ago P Chidambaram, Finance Minister in the UPA Government, claimed that frying pakodas is not job creation. Being cleverer than rest of his colleagues, he perhaps was trying to neutralise the success story of the Mudra Yojana where 12.90-crore loans have been given for self-employment to various weaker sections".
Mr Jaitley said: "the total of these loans has touched Rs 6-lakh-crore. This obviously has led to millions of hands generating new work for themselves and those that they employ".
Mr Jaitley also flayed Rahul Gandhi for his comments on Coca Cola maker and wrote: "The great grandson of the man who authored “The Discovery of India” could with his customary inaccuracies one day give to this country his monumental work on The Rediscovery of Coca Cola".
Finance Minister said: "It is the NDA Government under Prime Minister Modi which realised the importance of millions of such self-employment opportunities for which in the year 2015 Mudra Yojana was launched".
Most of the beneficiaries took small loans, were prompt in their repayment, set up small enterprises and gave themselves, and perhaps one or two people more, an employment, Mr Jaitley wrote.
"The UPA never did so," he said adding: "I repeat that it was the UPA which during 2008-2014 indiscriminately lent money through banks to these fifteen big defaulters. The Congress Party President prefers the Gobbelian traditions to say the exact opposite. What he claimed before the audience is precisely what we have successfully implemented".
UNI DEVN SNU 1753/1807