Raje destroys UCBs; NAFCUB looks on

This is ironical that NAFCUB which is being headed by a veteran cooperator owing allegiance to RSS is not able to defend urban cooperative banks of Rajasthan against the whims and fancies of the Vasundhara Raje govt in the state.

The state BJP govt is hell bent on destroying the democratic structure of urban cooperative banks placing its “men” as administrators in these banks. The move has damaged the spirit of cooperatives as argued by Sahakar Bharati on umpteen occasions.

In the garb of framing guidelines, the govt goes on postponing elections to the Board of UCBs on one pretext or another. While cooperators’ have opposed amendments to the Rajasthan cooperative societies Act 2001, the govt. has stuck to the exercise but without success in defining concrete guidelines.

The opposition Congress urged the state governor not to allow an amendment bill on the Rajasthan cooperative societies Act 2001. The Congress delegation even met the governor and sought his intervention in the matte but to little avail.

The cooperative department has already begun exercising control over nine urban cooperative banks (UCBs) in districts of the state through its administrators. However, the prospects of improvement in UCBs still remain bleak, reports TOI.

Earlier, nearly twenty officers who joined cooperative banks on deputation in Rajasthan fraudulently availed themselves of credit cards and loans at concessional rates. The amount embezzled is more than Rs. 80 lakh.

Putting administrators has already created problems as they cannot enroll new members and business growth of many UCBs has stalled.

There are 37 UCBs in Rajasthan with more than 200 branches having deposits of Rs 6,000 crore and advances of Rs 3,600 crore (2015-16).

The UCBs in Rajasthan have now started protesting against these appointees and alleging that they only promote the interests of their political masters. Instead of conducting elections and ensuring democratic management, politicians are only interested in controlling these banks through their pliant administrators, sources allege.

“There is a complete chaos in the way administrators are put in place. Even inspectors are appointed as administrators. Malviya Urban Co-operative Bank with a business size of Rs 180 crore is now headed by a non-gazetted administrator. What would happen to such institutions if they are not governed by an efficient administrator,” said another source, quotes the daily TOI.