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Cooperative banks told to be vigilant against interference

Staff Reporter

Trust of the people necessary to take on competition: Sudhakaran

JUBILEE TIME: Minister for Cooperation G. Sudhakaran inaugurating the golden jubilee celebration of the Chovva Cooperative Rural Bank in Kannur on Saturday

KANNUR: Minister for Cooperation G. Sudhakaran has called on secretaries of cooperative banks to be vigilant against any kind of political intervention that will violate rules regulating cooperative credit societies.

Addressing a meeting of the cooperative bank societies and Cooperative Department officials here on Saturday, Mr. Sudhakaran said that they should function only within the purview of the cooperative rules and not under any political pressure. "Any kind of political auditing or decisions should not be allowed to override the cooperative rules," he said.

The Minister also urged cooperative bank governing bodies and employees that the cooperative banks should not be treated as institutions for giving jobs and loans to favourites. "You are trustees of the people," he reminded the bank officials. Calling on the credit society secretaries to review the problems facing their societies, he said that unless the new projects were prepared to solve the problems, the credit societies could not survive. Commercial banks had been highly professionalised with the advent of modern science and technology, he said adding that the cooperative banks could compete with big private lending establishments only with the trust and co-operation of the people and timely modernisation.

When `imperialistic global finance capital forces' were ready take over even small roadside kiosks, the cooperative banks should be doubly vigilant and should strengthen cooperative principles to survive the onslaught by the `colonial interests', Mr. Sudhakaran said. Instead of enforcing any direct control on the cooperative banks, these forces would influence the Reserve Bank of India, Nabard and the Central Finance Ministry, he said. The enforcement of 30 per cent Income Tax on cooperative banks excluding primary credit societies was an indication of the new crisis looming large, he observed. To pay 30 per cent income tax, the banks should hike interest rate which, in turn, would restrain people from taking loans from them, he said adding that cooperative bank officials had great role in equipping the cooperative banks to survive the crisis, he said.

District Cooperative Bank president P. Balan was also present at the meeting.

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