A plaque to commemorate Rajendra Prasad’s account at Kankerbagh branch of Punjab National Bank in Patna. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, July 1: Incredible India has changed. So has the political will to serve the nation.

At a time when civil society activists have taken the government by the collar to bring back black money stocked in Swiss banks, a paltry sum of Rs 1,745 in the bank account of Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, justifies the austerity, politicians back then, practiced.

The amount includes the bank interest, till date.

Recently, the debate over black money deposited in Swiss bank accounts took centrestage with civil activists like Anna Hazare and yoga televangelist Baba Ramdev giving clarion calls to bring back the black money deposited in Swiss banks.

Ramdev has even said that Indian money deposited in Switzerland, if distributed among the people of India, each citizen can get money in lakhs.

Dr Razi Ahmad, an eminent Gandhian, said: “The difference in the financial balance in bank accounts of Dr Rajendra Prasad and that of the present day politicians reflects the personality of Prasad with leaders of today.”

Ahmad added: “Prasad’s paltry saving is a tribute to his austerity and honesty in his private as well as public life. It seems our current politicians have completely forgotten the ideals Prasad stood for.”

Prasad’s bank account bearing number “038000010030687” in Punjab National Bank on Exhibition Road was opened on October 24, 1962 after Prasad returned to Bihar serving as the President of India till May 23, 1962.

According to bank sources, if an account is non-functional for a period of one year it is declared dormant. However, Prasad’s account is still “alive”, as officials of the bank feel that it is an asset for the bank.

Prakash Chandra, the manager of the bank, said: “The account is an asset. We claim to be the proud banker of the first President of India.”

Ahmad said there is hue and cry over bringing back the black money deposited in Swiss banks but in reality, neither the government nor the Opposition parties want the money back.

“Hawam me sabhi nange hain (all are the same). If the black money deposited in Swiss banks is brought back it will change the face of the Indian economy. Not only will the prices of petroleum products come down, all essential commodities’ prices will fall too,” said Ahmad.

However, when The Telegraph contacted Ram Chandra Purbey, the state president of the RJD, he like his party boss Lalu Prasad, refused to say anything regarding bringing back black money from the Swiss banks. He did not even comment on Prasad’s money in his bank account.

BJP state president C.P. Thakur said: “There is deterioration in public as well as personnel life of all leaders. The leaders indulge in malpractices because of lust for money. In order to save themselves from paying taxes they have taken shelter of other banks for depositing money.”