A government teacher leaving his secured job to serve the have-nots in his area can be a plot of tinsel world but Abhinath Shinde of Satara in Maharashtra has proved that reel and real lives can merge at times.
Shinde set up Shri Venkatesh Multistate Cooperative Credit Society in 2013 and in a span of five years the society has done a fabulous work. Talking to Indian Cooperative, young Chairman of the society Shinde said, “In the financial year 2018-19 we have achieved a business mix of over Rs 159 crore and we are aiming to achieve Rs 300 crore by 2020. We are planning to double our business till the next year and we will easily achieve the target”, he said.
“Our deposits rose from Rs 63 crore to Rs 101 crore whereas loans and advances increased from Rs 40 crore to Rs 57 crore in the FY 2018-19. We are hoping that the society’s profit will increase from Rs 89 lakh to more than Rs 1 crore”, claimed the teacher turned Chairman.
Bucking him up was RBI Central Board member Satish Marathe who wrote in his as well as his co-op society’s praise on social media for its efforts in changing the live of poor people. He wrote on his Facebook wall, “Shri Venkatesh Multistate Cooperative Credit Society has almost all its branches in rural areas and conducts its operations as if it were a bank.
“With CASA deposits in excess of 30%, this CBS enabled co-op has recently tied up with Pune based FINTECH to garner business. Led by a dynamic Chairman, Sh Abhinath Shinde, it has achieved an impressive growth in the last 5 years”, Marathe further wrote.
Since it is a multistate credit cooperative society it has its area of operation in Karnataka as well. The society has 22 branches. Unlike cooperatives in general, the society is active on social platform and digitally connected. According to the Chairman, the society has digitally reached at least four lakh people in a span of four months.
Recalling the history of the society, Shinde said, “As, I come from a rural background I had no financial capacity to start a business. But I had a dream to serve the people. No banks and credit cooperatives were willing to give me loans. As I was a teacher at the Govt. Primary School I left the job to pursue my dream”, he recalled.
“As banks were reluctant to offer loans, I finally decided to open a credit society. It was started with a share capital of Rs 22,440 with 102 members in a small room. Now the society is having over 70,000 shareholders. The society became operational on 11th April 2013 and in a span of five years the society has done a fabulous work”, he recounted.
The society is also active in empowering women of the community. Recently the society conducted a yearly meeting at Hotel Millennium Resort, Satara to interact with employees under one roof. It was a cooperative function but it looked like a professionally managed corporate event.
