Speaking on the occasion of the 42nd AGM of NAFCUB at NCUI Auditorium in Delhi, RBI’s newly appointed Director Satish Marathe said he is conscious of his responsibilities and would certainly do his best to fulfill the expectations of the UCB sector. “Before anything, we need to bring about a change in the mindset of policy makers regarding cooperative”, said Marathe giving a road map for it.
Policy makers have to realize that cooperative is a distinct form of ownership; I am annoyed about calling them business enterprises here in India on the lines of foreign countries. Sadly, the media has also picked the expression in the context of co-ops while in truth co-ops are economic enterprises rather than business enterprises.
Secondly, policy makers must note that co-operatives are institutions not for profit. On average a co-op does not give more than 10-15% dividend, the rest it spends on social assets. Marathe quoted a Nabard report of 2002 which stressed the role of co-ops in the building of infrastructure.
Marathe also suggested the support of media should be enlisted in spreading good words about co-operatives. In this
On his arrival at the AGM, Marathe was felicitated by the entire UCB fraternity present on the occasion. While NAFCUB President Jyotindra Mehta called him a political thinker, HK Patil said he is going to be our friend and philosopher at the RBI Board.
Cooperators after cooperators expressed their happiness on Marathe’s appointment. His appointment means the govt still cares for the sector.
Marathe himself felt that after 1967 co-op stopped being a factor in govt planning with the budgets of successive years even omitting the word co-op from its lexicon. He vowed to get the sector back to its pristine glory, amidst thunderous applause.