The 38th Annual General Meeting of the apex urban cooperative banks federation NAFCUB took place at the NCUI auditorium in N Delhi on Saturday. Delegates coming from different parts of the country demanded greater action from the NAFCUB in solving their problems vis a vis the government and the RBI.
It was the first AGM after the election which resulted into the emergence of M L Abhyankar in the lead role. Speaking on the occasion Mr Abhyankar said the NAFCUB is going to organize a mega conference in Delhi in January next year.
The aim of the conference would be to apprise the government of the problems being faced by the urban cooperative banks. We are going to invite the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, said Mr Abhyankar.
Echoing Abhyankar’s words the former Nafcub President H K Patil told Indian Cooperative soon after the AGM that the sector does not feel appropriately recongnized and respected either by the regulatory body or by the government.
We wish to inform the people at the helm that UCbs could be partner of the govt in terms of achieving financial inclusion and creation of employment, Patil added.
The two themes that emerged from the AGM were Income tax rebate and increased media interaction. Delegates felt that there is an increased need to involve the media in what UCBs are doing. We are not covered by the media if we do anything good while we get negative publicity the moment anything goes wrong with the urban cooperative banks, regretted several delegates. 
Delegates demanded from the NAFCUB an increased interface with the media and some of them even went as far as complaining their views expressed at AGM are not taken seriously by the apex federations. Ramesh Jatav, a delegate from Assam rued that 19 people spoke in the last AGM which NAFCUB distilled into mere three lines and there was no action even on them.
Another delegate felt that in the balance sheet Rs 70 crore has been earmarked for Research but there is no break-up.
A delegate from West Bengal demanded parity and balance and said the Board of NAFCUB has no representation from the eastern region. A few objected to the two-minute limit for speakers and said we meet once a year and this time limit must be extended.
One of the delegates objected to the condolences being offered at the start of the meeting and said after condolences the meeting should be ended or else condolences should be expressed at the end of the proceedings. The AGM had passed condolences on the demise of Saraswat Bank Chairman Eknath Thakur.
But the constant theme of the meeting had been Income tax rebate. Delegates were so much exercised over the issue that the Chair had to ask them to stop mentioning it as the constant harping on the issue was eating into the time of the AGM.
Some of the delegates also pointed out the deteriorating tone and tenor of the RBI letters in recent years and asked the NAFCUB to intervene.
The AGM also took a dim view of the frequent liquidation of UCBs across the country.
