GUCBF: Veteran co-operator Mehta elected Chairman 6th time in row

NAFCUB President Jyotindra Mehta and Dolarrai Kotecha have been re-elected unopposed as Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the apex body of Gujarat Urban Cooperative Banks Federation (GUCBF) in the election held recently at its headquarters at Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Mehta and Kotecha have been elected for positions for the sixth time and fifth time in a row respectively. A veteran co-operator from Rajkot, Mehta is also the President of national apex body of UCBs and credit co-ops in the country-Nafcub.

Acting as the Patron of Sahakar Bharati, Mehta is also one of the Governing Council members as the government nominee of the apex cooperative body in the country NCUI.

RBI Ex General Manager J P Mistri was the returning officer. The federation board consists of 21 directors. This time out of 21 directors only three belong to congress and the rest are from Bharatiya Janata Party. Nine directors are the newcomers on the board.

Talking to Indian Cooperative, Mehta said, “The whole election of Gujarat Urban Cooperative Banks federation was unopposed. Along with the team we will make every effort to resolve the issues related to UCBs and also put them before the state government. I have been elected for the consecutive sixth time”, he added.

“We will make efforts for the implementation of board of management in the Urban Cooperative Banks which are having turnover exceeding Rs 100 crore. We will also request the Reserve Bank of India for giving extension of further six months in constituting BoMs in UCBs. The deadline from RBI is till December 2020”, Mehta informed.

He further added that ”you would be surprised to know that the Net NPA of UCBs in India is 7.2 percent whereas if we talk about the NPA percentage of UCBs in Gujarat state, the Net NPA is 0.45 percent and Gross NPA is 3.4 percent. In our state UCBs are doing well and are on a growth path.

It was during the lockdown, when the UCBs of the state played a major role in Atmanirbhar Gujarat Sahay Yojna (AGSY) with an objective to help small businessmen. Under this scheme UCBs of the state promoted the interests of little businessmen, skilled workers, auto rickshaw owners, barbers, street vendors and others by offering them soft loans.

Established in Ahmedabad in 1975 in accordance with the provisions of the Gujarat Co-Operative Society Act, 1961, Gujarat Urban Co–operative Banks Federation (GUCBF) is the apex body of 218 urban co-operative banks in Gujarat. Its objective is to highlight the issues related to the urban cooperative banking sector.

Meanwhile, Mehta’s social media handle Facebook is filled with messages of greetings and congratulations from his supporters and well-wishers.