Himachal Pradesh State Cooperative Bank Chairman Devendra Shyam met Union Cooperation Secretary Gyanesh Kumar at his office recently and raised several issues pertaining to the cooperative sector. Shyam met the secretary soon after the election of Cooperative Banks of India held at the NCUI boardroom.
“Being a hilly state, fruits are major crops in some districts and there is a need to extend the benefits of ‘World’s Largest Grain Storage Plan’ for setting up storage facilities like warehouses and Silos for foodgrains in lower areas of the state”, Shyam emphasized in his meeting with the Secretary.
In his meeting with the Secretary, he raised issues like Extension of Rs 1 lakh crore program to create the world’s largest grain storage capacity to Horticulture crops, Extension of Single Nodal Agency (SNA) Model for CSS funds to Cooperative Banks and Uniform criteria for becoming member lending institution under CGTMSE.
“In Himachal Pradesh, due to the absence of sufficient warehousing facilities, the food grains produced in the state are stored in neighbouring states and most of PACS in the state do not have land holding in their name nor even meager land holdings, ” said Shyam.
He further said, to construct full capacity CA store for preservation of fruit crops, an approximate cost of Rs 50 crore is required and for construction of Silos ranging from the capacity of 500MT to 10000 MT for storage of wheat and maize, a budget of Rs 8 crore to Rs 11 crore is required. However, in the case of warehouses with capacity of 5000 MT to 10000 MT, a budget of approximately Rs 5 crore is required.
Shyam further demanded, Cooperative Banks be recommended to the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance for opening Single Nodal Accounts for all centrally sponsored schemes. Considering the significant role of cooperative banks in implementing the “Computerization of PACS’’ scheme, we request that the single nodal account for this scheme be opened compulsorily with state cooperative banks, he stated.
He also demanded uniform criteria for becoming a member-lending institution under Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises. The condition of maintaining net NPA below 5% of advances should be considered for cooperative banks to maintain uniformity in criteria. This will enable co-operative banks to provide easy credit facilities without the need for collateral or third party guarantees, supporting the establishment of Micro and Small Enterprise Units, Shyam asserted.
As soon as the details of Shyam’s meeting with the Secretary were shared on social media, the followers lost no time in congratulating him. Nafscob MD Bhima Subrahmanyam also commented on his meeting and said, “His initiatives are highly appreciated”.
Himachal Pradesh State Cooperative Bank crossed the business turnover of Rs 22,784 crore and earned a net profit of Rs 159 crore in the 2022-23 FY.