Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday asked the banks not to give in to pressure of any kind, including that from political circles, while issuing loans to applicants.

Bank officials should weigh the merit of the case and be liberal in sanctioning loans to the poor and downtrodden, he said while inaugurating the 179th branch of the Pandiyan Grama bank(PGB) here. “Every customer, be it a depositor of Rs five or Rs five crore, should be treated equally that too when the government was keen on implementing financial inclusion in the rural areas”, he said.

He said the govt had given its approval of PGB to expand in 6 more districts of Tamil Nadu. He added the bank will be opening the 180th branch at Theni on December 31 and 4 more branches would be opened before the end of this fiscal in the state.