Reacting to the order issued by Uttarakhand Cooperative Secretary, Deepak Kumar who has been demoted from the MD to the status of GM in Uttarakhand State Cooperative Bank said he would appeal to the cooperative secretary of the state to reconsider the order.
Kumar has also denied his involvement in alleged irregularities in the bank and claimed that under his leadership the bank grew. “When I had taken the charge of MD over 3.5 years back, the business mix of the bank was Rs 2500 crore but now the business mix is Rs 4,250 crore. Besides, the bank’s net profit was Rs 3.5 crore but now the bank has earned a net profit of Rs 15 crore”, he claimed.
Accusing the former MD and several officials of the bank, Kumar said, ” I had joined as the General Manager in the bank in 2015 and was promoted as the MD in April 2017. Prior to taking the charge as the MD, former MD Rajendra Sharma got the extension of 2 years under the Congress regime. Against the extension I went to the High Court and the court stayed the order and allowed me to become the MD”, he said.
Though, there were many probes done against the irregularities in Chamoli and Tehri DCCBs but I got the clean chit from the cooperative department, Kumar informed.
Denying all the charges Deepak Kumar said, I have not indulged in any irregularities and all the media reports are biased on lies invented by vested interests who are against me. NABARD would do inspections every year and give us A grade in accounting”, he added.
On the issue of sanctioning bogus loans to the loanees, Kumar said, “We have not sanctioned any bogus loans and loans have been disbursed under the prescribed norms and on the collateral basis. We are running our bank very smoothly and earning profit every year”, he said.
Meanwhile, several co-operators wondered that if Kumar has been found guilty why has he not been suspended from the position. They find demotion a soft punishment.
The dismissed MD’s loyalists allege that due to Chairman of State Cooperative Bank Dan Singh Rawat’s worsening relations with State Cooperative Minister Dhan Singh Rawat, this action has been taken against Kumar.
Kumar was earlier posted as General Manager in several DCCBs including Tehri, Chamoli and Uttarkashi.
Readers would recall that last week Kumar had been demoted from his position and for the time being the charge has been handed over to State Registrar B M Mishra. For selection of the new MD a committee has been formed.