Buldana Urban, held as a pride of credit co-operatives in the country has had a tough time this year fighting general economic slowdown, especially in the wake of RERA that led to slump in the housing sector. But Buldana Urban succeeded majorly in its membership-drive campaign.
Talking to Indian Cooperative from Mumbai where he had gone to take care of his ailing mother, MD of Buldana Urban Dr Sukesh Zamwar said the profit of the credit co-op nosedived to Rs 40 crore owing to multiple reasons. But the success of membership drive is going to make up for these setbacks sooner than later, said a confident Zamwar, who by training is a medical doctor.
Lack of an encouraging crop condition, lack of growth in the housing sector and a general slowdown in the country’s economy could be cited as some of the reasons, he said. “In the wake of RERA, builders are fighting shy of housing activities as there is a lack of enthusiasm among the home buyers leading to a reduced recovery from them, Zamwar explained.
Buldana Urban had, because of these factors also registered a spike in its NPA to 5.43 per cent, a rise of nearly 2 per cent from the past year, said a disappointed MD.
But Zamwar soon brightened up as the issue of Buldana’s swelling membership was raised. The credit co-op has recorded a significant rise of 30 per cent in its membership this year. “We have taken up about 6000 Gram Sabhas and have coached thousands of village folks on the benefits of associating with cooperatives”, said Zamwar.
Buldana Urban had a target of taking over ten thousand Gram Sabhas. Its representatives go into remote villages and teach farmers how to open accounts or take loans from co-ops. The project has been highly successful so far, said a satisfied MD.
Buldana Urban has also done a few more things this year which could be a dream of other co-ops such as opening a Mall where its members can sell their products. The experiment is attracting a lot of attention, stated Zamwar. Campaign like Soil Doctor which helps farmers assess their soil’s strength is also doing well, he confided.
Zamwar was, however unhappy that the existing economic situation has dissuaded big players from taking loans. “There have been mostly small loans at our credit co-ops”, he underlined. Zamwar was no less unhappy with the vilification campaign launched by vested interests against him last year on social media. “I have recovered now but it is sad that anyone trying to do honest business is pulled down while those running ponzy schemes are rewarded”, said Zamwar without naming anyone.
It bears recall that Buldana Urban employs the concept of multi-purpose cooperative in solving everyday municipal problems and boasts a business mix of 1.3 billion USD. Zamwar himself has bagged many awards including the one by the Maharashtra Govt for leading the largest multi-state credit cooperative society in the state.