The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Cooperative bank staff plan agitation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 20, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Cooperative bank staff plan agitation

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: About 4,000 out of 4,600 primary agricultural cooperative banks in the State are facing the threat of closure as their cumulative losses have crossed Rs. 1500 crores, according to the Tamil Nadu Primary Agricultural Cooperative Bank Employees Association.

President Thirunavu. Kumaresan told presspersons here on Monday that these banks, with a total deposit of Rs. 3,600 crores, were meeting the credit needs of poor and marginal farmers.

They had so far lent Rs. 12,000 crores to 66 lakh people. Unfortunately the financial position of the banks was poor because of various reasons, including restriction on mobilising deposits, frequent waiver of loans without refinancing, moratorium on loan recovery and political interference in the issue of loans.

He feared that if the current situation continued, thousands of employees would lose their jobs.

Already 24,000 out of the 64,000 employees had not received salaries for the last six months.

Though this was brought to the notice of the Government time and again, no step was taken.

Demanding early steps for rejuvenating the banks and to press the other demands, the employees would take out a procession here on September 23 and submit a memorandum to the Chief Minister, he said.

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