He can be called the Gandhi of cooperatives. Gopal Giri, the chairman of Tapendu Urban Cooperative Bank in Bihar has all the ingredients of a Mahatma. Simple and polite he hides the steely will-power or else ensuring the viability of an urban cooperative bank on the soil of Bihar was not possible.
Meeting him in his modest office on the Frazer Road in Patna this correspondent discovered that he takes nothing from the bank-no TA, DA or vehicle not even phone bills. Driving in Maruti 800 he has the honour of offering lift to top cooperative leaders including NCUI President Chandra Pal Singh on various occasions.
Gopla Giri is a cooperator who is respected across the spectrum. If Biscomaun Chairman Sunil Singh thinks Giri Babu is his man, his adversary till death Ajit Singh also held him in high esteem. And that is possible when you are honest and transparent as Mr Giri said” both of them knew I would not harm their interests”.
“I cannot forget that it was Sunil Babu who introduced me to Ajit Singh when he wanted to start an UCB and was looking for a person with clean track-record. Soon Ajit Babu also began to trust me and this grew into a relationship in which I saw many ups and downs. They- Sunil Singh and Ajit Singh are brothers and were very close with each other in that era”, Gopal Giri volunteered.
Both of them stood by me and it had been my life’s efforts to bring them together once again, Giri added.
Starting in the year 2000 Tapendu Urban Co-op Bank has never looked back and consistently maintained a growth rate
of 20 percent. The leadership abilities of Mr Giri could be gauged from the fact that the bank has never ever defaulted on the RBI norms. “We are small but healthy. Net NPA is nil though gross NPA does exist and the process of recovery is on”, added Mr Giri.
Neither Directors nor their relatives have ever taken any loan or advance from the bank. Beginning with an initial capital of Rs 30 lakh, we have a deposit of Rs 25 crore today, reminisces the Chairman.
Elections are round the corner in Tapendu Urban Co-op Bank. Mr. Giri’s achievements explain why he is re-elected again and again. “There would not be any upsets as we conduct our business in an atmosphere of trust. We have a person like I C Kumar, former IAS officer to help us conduct our affairs in an honest and transparent manner”, a proud Giri said.
