Mangaluru: The district in-charge minister U T Khader said, “The union government is not concerned about the country’s economy. The government does not have any plans of supporting banks which are the major players in the Indian economy.”

Speaking to reporters the minister said, “Without any vision, the union government is merging banks. Yesterday, the union cabinet decided to merge Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank with Bank of Baroda. What is the necessity of merging Vijaya Bank with Bank of Baroda which is already running in losses? Vijaya Bank is earning profits. Hence, what is the reason behind its merger with a bank which is already known for its poor performance? If it is mandatory, why did the government not show any interest to name it as Vijaya Bank?” he questioned.

“Vijaya Bank was started by the people of Dakshina Kannada and it has a very good reputation amount its customers. But the union government is destroying its legacy by merging it with Bank of Baroda. It is clear that the MPs of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi have betrayed us and they supported to merge our own Vijaya Bank with other banks running under losses. I condemn this and demand that Vijaya Bank should be set free from the superiority of Bank of Baroda,” he demanded.

Khader spoke on the farmers’ loan waivers and said, “In the district, we have 67,627 farmers and state government allotted Rs 562.13 crore for loan waiving. Now Rs 96.68 crore has been sanctioned for the district and loan waiving process has already begun. When the documents are verified and officials give approval for loan waiver, at the time of due date, the same will be done.”