The national conclave of National Federation of Urban Cooperative Banks and Credit Societies (NAFCUB) was inaugurated by Union Home and the first Cooperation Minister Amit Shah at the Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi on Thursday, wherein the Minister said that if we wish to have equitable distribution of wealth, co-op is the only model.
Speaking at the event, Amit Shah said making India a 5 trillion-dollar economy is not that tough but will the wealth creation touch the lives of everyone including the have nots? He said a co-operative model is the only way to have inclusive growth.
Amit Shah said the Prime Minister has called for Sahakar se Samriddhi or ‘Prosperity through Cooperatives’ – guiding light for economic prosperity of the society and it is the Ministry of Cooperation that will work with the UCBs to make it a reality.
He asked all small and big banks to join the Umbrella Organisation as that is the only way that the UCBs will get access to latest technology and skilled manpower to grow the sector for the next 100 years.
Shah also gave assurance to the UCBs that now that they are under the BR act, they will no longer face any discrimination or step motherly treatment from any regulatory authority.”
In his introductory speech Jyotindrabhai Mehta, President NAFCUB said “The unification of these UCBs under NCFDC, will translate into better products, and services for our customers, while ensuring prosperity, transparency, and sustainability of the UCB sector.
“It is important for UCBs to come together under NCFDC as only by coming together can each UCB leverage the number strength of the entire sector and be Stronger as a Whole. NCFDC has been formed with the blessings of RBI and will be a Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO)”, exhorted Mehta.
Mehta said the need of the sector is to work together under the umbrella organization, NCFDC, to be able to compete for the next 100 years. As a sector under NCFDC, the UCBs with their 11,500 branches and would be amongst the top 5 banking entities in the country.
Another very important development for the sector has been the amendment to the Banking Regulation Act which aims to bring the cooperative banking sector into the mainstream of the banking industry in India. With this the UCBs will get more freedom in operations which they have been asking for and at the same time they will be under a stricter regulatory regime, felt Mehta.
The event was well attended as several representatives of the co-op banking sector were present. Prominent guests included Union Minister of State for Cooperation B L Verma, Ministry of Cooperation Secretary Gyanesh Kumar (IAS), Central Registrar, NCUI Chairman Dileepbhai Sanghani, RBI Board member Satish Marathe, among others.
Out of 198 entities, about 10 banks including Saraswat Bank and Cosmos Bank were felicitated by the Union Minister Amit Shah. Remaining UCBs that have served the Indian economy for over a century would be felicitated by Union Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad.
The Conclave focused on several issues including the formation of an umbrella organisation for UCBs, National Cooperative Finance Development Corporation (NCFDC), issues faced by UCBs with the Banking Regulation Act and taxation issues of the cooperative credit societies.
