The disclosure that public sector banks in India have written off over Rs 4.48 lakh crore in nonperforming assets (NPAs) over just four financial years is more than a technical statistic. It is a powerful reflection of deep-rooted inefficiencies and structural weaknesses in India’s banking ecosystem. The list includes most nationalised banks. In isolation, these figures are staggering. Collectively, they point to a recurring pattern where public money is used to absorb the consequences of misjudged lending, poor credit discipline, and opaque accountability. The government insists that these write-offs are “technical” and do not mean that the borrower’s obligation is waived. In practice, however, recovery postwrite-off remains murky.

There is no detailed disclosure on how much has actually been recovered once a loan is written off. Meanwhile, the public is left to infer that balance sheets are being cleaned up at........

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