The Board of the National Federation of Urban Cooperative Banks and Credit Societies (NAFCUB) is meeting today on Monday at the NCUI headquarters in Delhi, amidst speculation of declaration of elections dates.
November Board meeting of NAFCUB had decided to finalize the date in next meeting which is slated for today, said one of the Directors of the outgoing Board. According to informed sources the likely date to be announced would be 4th February next year.
According to Nafcub bylaws a notice period of at least 60 days are given before the actual day of polling. If the election date is agreed upon among the Board members today, the earliest date could not be earlier than the 4th of February, 2019.
The election is scheduled for all the 20 members of the Board. Currently Mehta is the President while R B Sahandilya and Vidyadhar Anaskar are the two Vice-Presidents. Mehta who won a protracted legal fight with Mukund Abhyankar had just a few months left when the elections have come knocking.
NAFCUB which is the apex body of Urban Cooperative Banks and Credit Societies in the country has been mired in controversies in the tenure of its last board and failed to deliver results leading to disappointment among smaller UCBs and credit co-ops which look up to it as their protective umbrella.
It bears recall that Mukund Abhyankar who was elected President was removed midway when, as a member of Malegam Committee he advocated conversion of ucbs into commercial banks. This move by Abhyankar angered majority of Board members who removed him by passing a resolution. Jyotindra Mehta was elected President but he could not function as Abhayankar went to the court. Mehta was reinstated by the court after two and half years, thereby giving little time to his team to bring the NAFCUB house in order.
Majority of Board members of the outgoing Board, Indian Cooperative talked to, are willing to contest in the ensuing elections.
NAFCUB Board have had several eminent personalities as its office bearers in the past such as Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, former President of India, former Union Minister of Minority Affairs Shri Rahman Khan, H.K. Patil, former Minister of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Government of Karnataka, Former Deputy Chief Minister Gujarat, Late Shri Atmarambhai Patel, Union Minister Shri Suresh Prabhu, Former Minister of State for Finance Late Dr. S.S. Sisodia, among others.