Odisha demands IT exemption for co-ops

Cooperative leaders demanding IT exemption for a long time got a shot in the arm when the Patnaik govt called upon the central govt to exempt state and central cooperative banks from income tax. The argument is cooperative banks are not comparable to big commercial banks because their main work is to provide farmers with loans on negligible interest.

The state govt. has added in its pre-budget note sent to the central govt. cooperative banks were earlier allowed exemption but this was done away with as per the new finance Act 2006.

The Odisha govt. has also desired a corpus fund of Rs.1000 crore through Nabard. The corpus fund the state govt. says would help banks with poor finances survive.

The Odisha govt. has also strongly advocated provision of enough financial resources to the cooperative sector so the cooperative movement generally could flourish in the state.