[Reader-list] India state-run banks 'turn away Muslims': BBC

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India state-run banks 'turn away Muslims'
By Sanjoy Majumder BBC News, Delhi

State-owned banks in India have been accused of discriminating against
the country's Muslim minority.

India's minorities watchdog has received a record number of complaints
from Muslims who say they have been prevented from opening bank
accounts.

India's Muslim community is among the poorest in the country.

Some bankers say it is not so much their religious background, but
their economic status that makes it hard for Muslims to get banking
facilities.

The National Commission of Minorities says that there has been a 100%
increase in the number of complaints it has received over the past
year from Muslims who say they are being prevented from opening
accounts in state-run banks.

Reports say the worst case took place in the southern state of Andhra
Pradesh, where some 90,000 Muslim students were unable to open
accounts to deposit scholarship cheques given to them by the
government.

Official reports frequently put Muslims at the bottom of India's
social and economic ladder - even beneath than low-caste Hindus.

Their economic status means they are often excluded by private banks,
which prefer more well-to-do clients.

Already a number of reports have suggested that India's Muslims fare
poorly when it comes to getting access to quality education or
employment opportunities.

This latest finding will add more pressure on a government which is
seen as doing very little for the country's largest minority group.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10718243