Nirmala Sitharaman says she was mocked for wanting to learn Hindi in Tamil Nadu

Nirmala Sitharaman during heated discussion in Lok Sabha on Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 said that she was mocked in the streets of Tamil Nadu for wanting to learn Hindi.

"They (opposition) are opposed to Hindi imposition. I was mocked for wanting to learn Hindi in the streets of Tamil Nadu," said the Finance Minister.

"Tell me one prime minister who has taken Tamil to the UN...Narendra Modi. Tell me one PM who quotes Tamil repeatedly...because he respects that language. Tell me one PM with whom DMK has been in alliance with, where the PM quoted Tamil," said Nirmala Sitharaman.


"I want to clarify that Prime Minister encouraged every state to have their own language," added the Finance Minister.

"Banks are being professionally run today. The metrics are healthy so they can go to the market and raise bonds, raise loans & run their business accordingly," said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her address at the Lower House of the Parliament.

Sitharaman also talked about student loans, saying that the outstanding loan amount due had increased from Rs 71,000 crore in 2017-18 to Rs 1.04 lakh crore in 2023-24, adding that there had been a 17.6 per cent increase from Oct 2023 to 2024 alone.

Further, she said that there was no collateral asked for loans up to Rs 5 lakh and a repayment period was 15 years. Sitharaman also said that there was a credit guarantee of Rs 3,500 crore.

The finance minister also spoke about the newly launched Prime Minister Vidyalakshmi scheme. She said that loans up to Rs 7.5 lakh under 75 per cent credit guarantee by government would be provided under the scheme.

Additionally, for higher education, loans beyond Rs 7.5 lakh would be given to students whose household income is up to Rs 8 lakh and 3 per cent interest subvention would be provided for loans up to Rs 10 lakh. Those with annual income of up to Rs 4.5 lakh would get full interest subvertion.