The Urban Cooperative Banking Sector has, at last decided to shed its hang ups about being in the limelight and use the media for refurbishing its image. The sector is realizing the importance of media and is ready to spend on publicity and dissemination of information.
It is in this context that the apex body of Maharashtra UCBs-Maharashtra Urban Cooperative Bank federation (MUCBF) has urged all the UCBs of the state to allocate special budgetary provisions for publicity.
In a long talk with Indian Cooperative Correspondent Anaskar said “We have appealed all the Urban Cooperative Banks of the State and issued a letter to give their media contribution by allocating a special budget for publicity. I think it would be the game changer and would help us create an awareness of our good work among the public”, he said confidently.
“Commercial Banks and Public Sector Banks are losing their credibility among the public. And this is the right time for the cooperative banking sector to come forward and highlight their strong points with the help of Media”, Anaskar added.
In a recent meeting of the apex body of all UCBs, NAFCUB held in Mumbai, Anaskar had raised this issue before the board members who appreciated the move.
MUCBF Chairman said “one can meet the chairman of an Urban Cooperative Bank easily but the same does not hold good for the Chairman of ICICI or Axis Bank. This is a difference between Cooperative Banks and Private Banks”, he said underlining the lack of bureaucratic hassles in UCBs.
Meanwhile, Anaskar has sent a proposal to Zee TV asking them to arrange an open debate of representatives from
Commercial, PSU and Cooperative Banks which will help us highlight our strong points. This programme will be sponsored by MUCBF, he claimed.
On Anaskar’s own admission when cooperatives organize a press conference, the media shows no interest and their good work goes unreported. He felt that the cooperative banking sector should embrace the idea of publicity, hook, line and sinker.
“We have asked UCBs to allocate a special budget for publicity and urged them to participate in TV Serial, TV Debates, TV Advertisement and social media. Our presence in the media is almost nil at the moment but we need to be media savvy in order to highlight our achievements”, he added.
”We should shed our complex about being small and underscore the fact that we accomplish things no other sector could ” Anaskar said.
