Bank nationalisation: 52 years and ticking

Nationalisation has served its purpose. It's time to move ahead, keeping majority ownership of the government in a few banks to serve people

After taking his first step on the Moon on July 20, 1969, American astronaut Neil Alden Armstrong said: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”bank

Just a day before, on July 19, the Indian government had taken a not-so-small step for its banking industry. A little over five decades later, the question many are asking: Was that a giant leap for the Indian financial system?

Fourteen banks with deposits of at least Rs 50 crore each were nationalised on the midnight of July 19, 1969, hours after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s address to the nation regarding this.