UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi was also present at the inaugural ceremony. Sonia Gandhi said that this was an appropriate tribute to the memory of Indira Gandhi, former prime minister on her birth anniversary.
"The setting up of the Bharatiya Mahila Bank is a small step towards the economic empowerment of our women. It is also a reflection of our deep commitment to this cause. I am sure that the Bank will fulfill the objective with which it has been established, namely financial inclusion of women and providing them equal and easy access to financial services. I am also sure that it will particularly benefit women from the less privileged sections of our society. The fact that it will be run largely by women will serve as an example that given the opportunity, women are capable of taking on challenging tasks." said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Finance Minister P.Chidambaram recollected the promise he had made in his budget speech earlier this year to start a bank for women. Complimenting the start-up team that was guided by M.B.N.Rao, former chairman and managing director, Canara Bank, Chidambaram said that from today, the board of directors of the bank would be a 8-member all-women board. He hoped that the bank would remain not merely a symbol but the substance of empowerment of women.
The bank, which is the first bank started in the public sector space by an Act of Parliament (other banks in public sector were nationalised in two tranches in 1969 and 1980) begins with a capital base of Rs 1,000 crore.
“Women are heads of many banks today, including two public sector banks, but there is no bank that exclusively serves to women. Can we have a bank that lends mostly to women and women-run businesses, that supports women SHGs and women’s livelihood, that employs predominantly women, and that addresses gender-related aspects of empowerment and financial inclusion? I think we can,” Mr. Chidambaram had said.
