JK Bank Row: Drabu Hits Out At Governor Malik For His ‘Personal Interest’ Remark

Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir finance minister and senior PDP leader Haseeb Drabu on Thursday came down heavily on governor Satya Pal Malik over his comment that only people with “personal or political interests” in J&K Bank are opposing the move to turn the bank into a PSU.

Taking to Twitter, Drabu said the decision of State Administrative Council (SAC) to treat the bank as a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) was against the economic interests of the state which “is against his (Drabu’s) political interest.”

“Of course I have personal interest in @JandKBank. We have emotional equity in it. Ur (Your) decision is against economic interest of the state which is against my political interests. Neither is malafide. Wish one could say the same about ur (your) decision,” Drabu tweeted.

The former finance minister was responding to a news report in which Malik had claimed that the opposition of the move to turn J&K Bank into a PSU was “without merit”, and “those who have benefited the most from the bank are opposing this move.”

Speaking to The Indian Express, Malik said that J&K Bank is an important institution of the state and “we do not wish cripple it or keep it under pressure.”

He added that “with the bank’s history of bad loans, the move will benefit the bank — usse koi nuksaan nahin hoga, faida hi hoga (it will do no harm but will only benefit).”

On November 22, the Governor-led State Administrative Council (SAC) had approved the proposal for treating Jammu and Kashmir Bank Limited as a PSU.