Ray of Hope

Siba Prasad Maitra (c) allays fears of  PMC Bank depositors

With the state election now out of the way, those of us who had sunk our savings in PMC bank (ref post of September 25) are beginning to feel upbeat. Siba Prasad Maitra today raised our hopes further by announcing that a merger of the beleaguered bank is on the cards. “Do not worry, your money is safe,” he declared.

Razia Khan

“You will get your money back.”
This was music to our ears. Maitra’s assurance was in conformity with recent statements by the state chief minister, as reported in the press. There have been other indications as well to suggest that all is not lost. However, in the absence of a definite timeline for accessing our deposits, an element of doubt still hangs in the air.
Meanwhile, we are seeing a flurry of jokes on the subject, the latest being a message from Razia Khan on WhatsApp yesterday: “Good news for PMC bank depositors. Merger of PMC Bank with Big Laaf Co-op Bank Ltd, Mumbai, the largest cooperative bank in India. This bank has shown interest in the merger formula of the state government, RBI sources said.”
Whatever anybody may make of this, the point is, Razia has been badly impacted by the PMC crisis. She even broke down in front of us last month when she learnt that her deposits were frozen. Today, for her to laugh in the face of adversity (and bring cheer to others) says a lot about her inner resilience few can ever claim.

Lt Col (Angad Singh (rtd):
The government can ill afford to allow PMC Bank to sink. Efforts are already on to merge it with another bank. Depositors will get great relief soon. Be cheerful and positive.