The NABARD move reducing primary agricultural cooperative societies to the status of business correspondents has yet to stop provoking an angry reaction.
P Balakrishanan General Secretary of the All India Cooperative Bank Employees Federation has not only severely criticized the move but also called upon his members to go on strike on October 25.
The AICBEF says the apex bank’s decision to make PACs mere appendages to district central cooperative banks is anti-people and anti- farmer. The federation is planning a series of protest actions across the country prior to going on strike.
Reeling off impressive statistics Mr Balakrishnana said PACs’ job is a big deal in that they have so far disbursed crop loans of Rs 1,06000 crore and boasted deposit of Rs 48,000 crore.
If the current move to downgrade PACs is translated into action, it would unravel tens of thousands of them in the countryside exposing the rural population to greedy moneylenders, warned Mr Balakrishnan.