Following a change of guard in Himachal Pradesh, the appointment of Asgar Ali as the director on the board of Jogindra Central Cooperative Bank has triggered controversy.
It bears recalling that the Himachal Pradesh government led by Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu had recently made several appointments at top posts in many cooperatives in the state. The govt. appointed Mukesh Sharma as the new Chairman of Jogindra DCCB, replacing BJP leader Yogesh Kumar. The government had also appointed other three directors including Hazura Saini, Asgar Ali and Jitendra Thakur but the appointment of Ali got mired in controversy.
Reacting to the development, the newly appointed Chairman Mukesh Sharma said to the Indian cooperative, “We will take a call on this matter in the next board meeting which is tentatively scheduled at 21st April 2023. The said issue is not a big issue but the opposition BJP is trying to take political mileage out of it”, he added.
The BJP’s argument is, “Asgar Ali is from Ponta sahib which falls in Sirmour Distt, has been nominated by RCS against the norms. RCS can nominate only persons from area of operation and area of operations for Jogindra Central cooperative bank is only Solan district”.
Besides, under the leadership of former Chairman Yogesh Kumar, the BJP directors have threatened to knock the doors of the High Court if the appointment of Ali was not withdrawn.
The bank’s board consists of 12 directors out of which six are elected and six are made through appointment. The two-two each director are appointed directly by the Government and RCS and one director nominated from Himachal Pradesh State Cooperative Bank. The new government has appointed four nominated directors.
Sharing details about his future goals Mukesh Sharma said, “We are looking forward to starting UPI and net banking facilities for our customers. The UPI facility will be available in a few months. Further, our goal is to expand the network of branches and will also apply for permission to open new branches”, he said.
The bank’s business increased to Rs 1860 crore in the 2022-23 FY and earned a profit of Rs 16 crore. “Besides, the Cheque clearing system has been at par with nationalised banks. Two new branches are opened and the only extension counter which was in loss converted to full fledged branch and it is in profit now”, said the former chairman Yogesh Kumar recounting his achievements to this correspondent on the phone.
