The Erode district central cooperative bank in Tamil Nadu is high up with its several achievements. It offered Rs 226 crore as crop loan to the local farmers last year. The bank MD said given severe drought conditions prevailing in the state the bank intends rescheduling loans extended to the farmers. The bank functionary claimed [...]

National cooperative agriculture banks federation (Ncardbf)  has  come out in support of  FDI in the multi-brand retail sector arguing the move would  help farmers get better returns as well as enable them to pay bank loans.

As  the  foreign retailers  would   be in direct contact with farmers  getting  agricultural products from them , there would  be  more money coming  to farmers  and  the role of  the middlemen  would  stand automatically reduced,  said  Ncardbf MD Mr  Ravindran  while talking to the  press  in Chandigarh.

According to Ncardf , when  farmers get  better income  that means  their capacity to pay loans would rise.

Sources say state cooperative agriculture and rural development banks are active in 19 states altogether. The banks have put more than 15 thousand crore rupees in various forms and their NPA counts twenty percent, sources claim.

The meet in Chandigarh called upon the central govt to allow the banks to act as commercial banks. It also asserted that if the RBI permitted the banks to work as such it would go a long way in supplying the deficiency in banking services in the country.

The Kangra Co-operative Bank launched RTGS services successfully from its own platform installed at its Service Branch at Pahar Ganj in New Delhi recently.

Kangra Bank is the largest urban co-operative Bank of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. It is said to be the first Co-operative Bank not only in NCTD Delhi but also in northern region of the country to have joined RTGS network run by the Reserve Bank of India.

This project was initiated in November 2011 with the active support from RBI, Mumbai and IDRBT, Hyderabad.

The Bank has its own website (www.kangrabank.com ) since November 2006.

It is also in the process of  having CBS systems across all its seven branches. Two of its branches have already adopted core banking solution.

The CEO Mr Attar Chand Parmar who had earlier been Chairman of this Bank for a long time said that these achievements for a non-scheduled cooperative Bank likr ours is not possible without the sincere efforts of the staff.

He also credited Shri Laxmi Dass,Chairman and Directors of the Bank for their vision and continuous guidance for the growth of the bank.

Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) is always hot copy for the media. This time round the bank has gone out of its way defending the state deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar whose name figures in a petition before the Bombay high court seeking registration of FIR in a scam involving a largescale diversion of funds of the bank.

MSCB has told the high court that Mr Ajit Pawar’s name is being mentioned to gain cheap publicity.

One Mr Shankarao Bhosale from Satara has filed the controversial petition.

Mr Bhosale states depite the appointment of a board of administrators on the advice of RBI, the board has done nothing to recover defaulted loans and therefore urges the court to direct them to start criminal proceedings with the economic offences wing.

MSCB has told the court that the petitioner who is vice-president of a sugar factory has taken loans from the bank and has been defaulting on them. The petitioner is therefore only blackmailing the bank and hiding his own illegalities.

The petioner, however, maintains Mr Ajit Pawar’s followers and associates who are also members of the NCP have availed themselves of crores of rupees of loans from the bank and are not willing to repay these loans.

It is no secret that Mr Pawar and his followers have decisively been dominant over the years in the management board of MSCB.

The fastest growing Multistate Co-operative Scheduled Bank, the Cosmos Co-operative Bank  was awarded as ‘India’s oldest Co-operative Bank’  at Annual General Meeting of ‘National Federation of Urban Co-operative Banks and Credit Societies Ltd (NAFCUB) in New Delhi.

The Vice Chairman of Cosmos Bank, Mr Krishnakumar Goyal was honored with a trophy by Mr H K Patil, the President of ‘NAFCUB’.

The Cosmos Bank with its history of 106 years of glory was specially honored at this occasion.

Cosmos Bank is the leading Co-operative Bank in Co-operative sector of India with 119 branches and extension counters in 6 states. At present Bank has a total financial set-up of more than Rs. 21,800 cr.

The Kangra Co-operative Bank Limited, a leading and largest urban co-operative Bank of the National Capital Territory of Delhi has successfully convened its 44th Annual General Body meeting at FICCI , Golden Jubilee Auditorium, Tansen Marg, (Mandi House), New Delhi recently.

The meeting was attended by more than 1200 members and was presided over by the Chairman Shri Laxmi Dass, who is also Chairman of the Delhi Urban Co-operative Banks Federation.

The meeting was addressed by Chairman Shri Laxmi Dass and Vice Chairman Shri Shakti Chand Sharma (Advocate). The Managing Director Shri Attar Chand Parmar along with Chairman Shri Laxmi Dass and Chief Adviser & Professional Director Shri B R Sharma gave replies to the queries members raised on this occasion.

The Bank has registered 66 % growth in Profit (PAT) for 2011-12 over previous fiscal and Board’s proposed distribution of 18 % dividend (highest rate allowed as per Delhi Cooperative Rules 73(1)) consecutively 4th time was approved by the General Body unanimously.

Confusion of election symbols has led to postponement of the elections to the Maharashtar State Cooperative BanK (MSCB) employees union. Shrikant Bhuyarkar who was a candidate from the ruling Sahkar panel and contesting for the post of treasurer had his rival’s election symbol torch against his name.

This angered the opposing Parivartan panel.

The parivartan panel charged that the confusion was deliberate and the opposite panel was not willing to abide by democratic norms. The election should be held every three years as per rules of the union but sahkar panel had been in power for the last several years, parivartan panel complained.

Sources say fresh elections would be held on the 16th September now.

India govt may soon consider giving farmers crop loans at a very low interest through cooperative and other banks. In a scheme that may greatly boost the rural economy, India govt is likely to pay two percent interest subsidy to the banks.

Sources say the govt had earlier announced in the budget that the interest subvention scheme giving short term crop loans to farmers at 7 percent annual interest would cover 2012-13.

Besides, schemes such as additional help of three percent for immediate payment by farmers and post-harvest loans against warehouse receipts would be available.

The exercise is intended to reward farmers for paying their loans in time and for keeping their produce in warehouses.

There is general agreement about the fact that farmers need to be provided with easy and affordable credit so that there is spike in the agriculture credit targeted for the current year.

Shamrao Vithal Cooperative Bank in Bombay is in trouble. It is one among the five top urban cooperative banks of the country.

Gold ornaments worth Rs 86 lakh have disappeared from its locker. There are allegations that the locker in-charge himself has stolen the gold ornaments.

Police investigations have confirmed that P.V. Nalawade the locker custodian took away the ornaments by using duplicate keys and sold them on the market.

Mr Nawade is already in police custody and police is close to catching those who have been complicit in the crime.

Police has called upon banks to have experienced and ranking officers as the locker custodians so that such incidents do not recur.

People associated with cooperatives say such incidents in a hitherto reliable bank like Shamrao Vithal leads to flight of trust from urban cooperative banks .

The RBI insists on all the state and central cooperative banks making certain that there is minimal variation in interest rates on single term deposits of Rs 15 lakh and above and other deposits for corresponding maturities as there are presently wide variations noticeable in interest rates on them.

In a notification issued to the banks, the RBI has asked them to have a board approved transparent policy on pricing of liabilities.

The apex bank says the cooperative banks offer vastly different rates on deposits with almost no difference in maturities. Doing things in such a way shows that they lack adequate liquidity management system and pricing methodologies, the RBI indicated.

Banks are permitted to give different rates of interest on fixed deposits according to their own    judgment but they have to give information to the depositors about the plan of interest rates payable  on  deposits.