Hitting out at Congress leader Anand Sharma for his 'rubber stamp jibe', Corporate Affairs minister Anurag Thakur on Thursday said Union ministers are not like rubber stamps but are performing duties as assigned to them by the Prime Minister under the Constitution of India.
Talking to media on the sidelines of a customer outreach programme (COP) organised by Punjab National Bank (PNB) here, Thakur flayed Sharma, who had termed Union ministers as 'rubber stamps' while addressing a party workers meet at Shimla a few days back.
The Union minister said,"Anand Sharma is in the habit of criticising the BJP only for the sake of criticism. He and other Congress leaders should first verify the facts before making any statements against the ruling party and its leaders."
"Union ministers are not like rubber stamps and they are performing their duties as have been assigned to them by the Prime Minister under the Constitution of India," he said.
Earlier Thakur inaugurated the two-day COP in which loans to the tune of Rs 39.17 crore were sanctioned to 666 beneficiaries.
The banks in Himachal Pradesh are holding COPs at five places - Shimla, Solan, Hamirpur, Mandi and Kullu district - from October 3 in the first phase following the directions of the Union Finance Ministry.
The minister said that the main aim of holding such a programme is to make people aware people about the facilities being given to them by the banks on behalf of the central and state governments.
He said by getting loans from banks, one could become self reliant.
Thakur informed that such fairs were being organised in as many as 450 districts of the country which is a record.
He appealed to the people to make full use of the facilities being given to them by the banks on behalf of the government.
He also asked the bankers to give proper respect to the people visiting them, saying people were the real custodians of democracy.
Thakur said efforts were on to strengthen the economy of the country and for this many steps have been initiated by the Centre.
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