The new cooperation minister Mr Chandrakant Patil is making an all out effort to put the bank back on track. He told the newspaper representative that he would himself talk to the RBI as the apex bank has rejected two earlier proposals of merger.
The Minister informed that talk of merger of the bank with the Corporation Bank is in advanced stages and the proposal will be placed soon before the Board of the Corporation Bank.
Readers would recall a report in the Indian Cooperative in which the Minister Chandrakant Patil had offered NAFCUB President Dr Mukund Abhyankar the mantle of Rupee Cooperative Bank.
But Abhyankar had put certain conditions before taking up the herculean job of bringing the sick bank on the path to health. He has sought a free hand in choosing his team of 2-3 board members. The Rupee Bank has 6 lakh customers and 36 branches.
Talking about the liabilities of the UCB Abhyankar had requested to be given Rs 300 crores of interest free loan; I do not demand any donation and I promise to repay them sooner than later. But given the present state of affairs of the Bank where it has to dole out a sum of Rs 1400 crore, this demand is not unreasonable, he added.
The Minister has assured of an early breakthrough. He promises to get good news by the end of the week. Meanwhile, cheated depositors continue to sit in dharana before the bank.