Kerala - Kochi   

Bank merger: MPs write to Manmohan

Staff Reporter

KOCHI: Nineteen MPs from Kerala have written to the Prime Minister pleading that the proposed merger between Lord Krishna Bank and the Centurion Bank of Punjab should be stalled.

The MPs suggested that if at all a merger was needed for the Kochi-based bank, it should be with a public sector bank. The MPs, in their appeal to the Prime Minister, said Lord Krishna Bank was mired in several controversies in the past. "The proceedings and steps for the merger were said to have (been) marred by manipulations and irregularities," they said.

It went on to say, "the annual general meeting of Lord Krishna Bank was conducted in a high handed manner and the rights of the minority shareholders were being oppressed. The poll process was obscure and the guidelines for voting cap were being ignored. A good number of members in the bank's board, including the chairman, who conducted the AGM, were not `fit and proper' as per the prevailing norms."

Varkala Radhakrishnan, Chengara Surendran, Lonappan Nambadan, A. Abdulla Kutty, N.N. Krishnadas, K. Chandran Pillai, K. Francis George, S. Ajayakumar, P.J. Kurien, Abdul Wahab P.V., Sebastian Paul, C.S. Sujatha, P.C. Thomas, P. Rajendran, P. Satheedevi, P.R. Rajan, Pannian Ravindran, Suresh Kurup and K.S. Manoj are the MPs who have signed the appeal. They said the move was not a synergic one. Lord Krishna Bank was a scheduled commercial bank in the traditional sector and was catering to the banking needs of the rural and semi-urban population in the State.

The bank's contributions to the agriculture sector was significant while the exposure of the Centurion Bank of Punjab to Government schemes and priority sector lending, etc. in the State was virtually nil, the MPs said.

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