FM dials banks to maintain cash flow at all levels as the country battles coronavirus

“Had a detailed conversation with chiefs of Banks-public & private. Encouraging to know that they are doing their best, even during the lockdown,” finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said following the conference calls with CMDs of state owned banks.

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday asked top executives of public and private sector banks to maintain cash flow at all levels – branches, ATMs, banking correspondents, so that the hardships and pain felt by the common man during the 21-day lockdown to contain the novel coronavirus can be minimised.

“Had a detailed conversation with chiefs of Banks-public & private. Encouraging to know that they are doing their best, even during the lockdown,” finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said following the conference calls with CMDs of state owned banks.

She also dialed top executives of private banks such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank and confirmed that during the meeting banks raised the specific problems faced by them during the lockdown.

“Solutions to these issues are being found through coordination with State Governments and all the problems are being addressed,” said the finance minister after the conference calls in which the secretary of the department of financial services Debasish Panda, two joint secretaries in the DFS - Madnesh Kumar Mishra and Suchindra Mishra were also present.

Solutions to these issues are being found through coordination with State Governments and all the problems are being addressed.

During the call, Nirmala Sitharmana asked the banks to ensure that all branches and ATMs remain open and work while adhering to social distancing norms at all points. She also directed them to coordinate with state authorities to ensure smooth passage of bank staff during the lockdown period.

“They are certain that they’ll ensure customer service without disruption. Social distancing is being adhered to as well,” said the finance minister following her calls with top brass of public and private sector banks.

Dedicated twitter handle for Corona related issues

Finance Minister also directed the creation of a separate twitter handle under the department of financial services for receiving the bank customers' grievances related to Corona related relief measures.

Department of Financial Services (@DFS_India), which is the nodal body for supervising for the banking and insurance sector under the ministry of finance created a dedicated twitter handle @DFSFightsCorona for giving a direct access to top officials of the department for redressal of specific complaints and queries related to the corona relief measures of the government in the banking and insurance sector.

(Article by Krishnand Tripathi)