INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Nirmala Sitharaman has said that banks are not discouraged from giving loans to police personnelFinance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on
Tuesday informed Parliament that the Centre has issued no specific directions to banks asking them not to give loans to "sensitive
customers" like police personnel.Ms Sitharaman, during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, said there is no "official stated policy" directing
banks not to give loans to certain categories of customers."Banks make assessments based on KYC and other ratings like civil ratings
I don't think any specific instructions are given to banks - please be careful not to lend to these people," she said in the Upper House
while responding to a supplementary queries.However, banks do exercise a certain level of discretion based on their available KYC (know your
customer), she added.Minister of state for finance Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad said banks do have "problems" in lending to police and
Banks see track record before lending to these customers, he added.Responding to another question on banks not lending to politically
exposed persons (PEPs), Ms Sitharaman said, "...this is more from the point of view of large sums of money are transferred from one account
to another complying with the global requirement where the financial action on terror funding happens."So according to them, the minister
