At the grand inauguration of “CoopKumbh 2025”, held at Vigyan Bhavan in the presence of Union Home and Cooperation MinisterAmit Shah, Karnataka’s Minister for Law, Tourism & Parliamentary Affairs and Chairman (Emeritus), NAFCUB, Dr. H. K. Patil, delivered a powerful address calling for a renewed policy approach to strengthen and sustain India’s Urban Cooperative Banking sector.
Dr. Patil praised the Ministry of Cooperation’s proactive engagement with NAFCUB and the Reserve Bank of India in addressing long-pending challenges but emphasized that “this is only the beginning.”
He urged the regulator to move from a “closure mindset to a revival model,” stressing that “timely corrective action is as much the responsibility of the Regulator as it is of the Bank Management.”
Citing the example of Yes Bank’s revival through coordinated institutional efforts, Dr. Patil noted that “when systemic stability is at stake, institutions rise above competition,” and suggested a similar collaborative approach to rescue stressed Urban Cooperative Banks.
He also called for a review of Section 80(P)(4) of the Income Tax Act, arguing that the social and economic value delivered by cooperative banks to weaker sections far outweighs the limited revenue from taxation.
Highlighting the conference theme, “Digitalizing Dreams, Empowering Communities,” Dr. Patil said the next decade demands that cooperatives combine financial inclusion with technological innovation. He outlined a future vision focused on good governance, digital adoption, MSME credit expansion, and global learning from cooperative models in countries like Germany, Japan, and the Netherlands.
Commending the Ministry’s initiatives to revitalize the cooperative ecosystem- including PACS modernization and new national-level cooperatives- Dr. Patil expressed confidence that NUCFDC, under NAFCUB’s guidance, will drive sustainable growth of at least 10% annually through technology, fund support, and advisory services.
Concluding his address, Dr. Patil remarked that under the visionary leadership of Amit Shah, the cooperative movement is entering “a new era of trust, transparency, and transformation-where the cooperative model stands not just as an economic system, but as a people’s movement for inclusive growth.”
