MANGALORE: The co-operative sector in the country was getting sidelined particularly after the change in banking environment, State Apex Bank chairman M.N. Rajendra Kumar, has said. He was inaugurating the district-level self-help group co-op membership campaign training programme. It was organised by the Karnataka State Cooperative Federation Limited in association with the Dakshina Kannada District Cooperative Limited, here on Thursday.

Mr. Kumar said the Central Government had given several statements of purpose to commercial banks in the country but had transferred the responsibility to the State Government for the cooperative sector. According to Mr. Kumar, the Central Government had waived the non-performing asset servicing costs for the commercial banks but the facility had not been extended to cooperative banks. The government had collected advance Income Tax from the Cooperative banks in September every year even though the tax calculation was done in March. This locked up substantial amount of money for the cooperative banks, Mr. Kumar said.

There was also no clarity in the cooperative policy of the Government in reimbursing two per cent of the interest in the farm sector loans for the co-operative banks, he said. The Government was, however, quick in passing on that benefit to the commercial banks, he added.

According to senior leader of the cooperative movement Peraje Srinivas Rao the platform on which the cooperative movement functioned had changed substantially.

The new world cooperative movement was dependent on the collective success of the SHGs.

While Mr. Rao appreciated the work culture that had been adopted by the new generation cooperatives through the SHG and Navodaya concept, he cautioned them against dilution of principles of co-operative movement.

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