Karnataka Cooperation Minister B J Putta Swamy said that even when the cooperative bodies are reeling from their punctured public image, the cooperative banks are doing some useful work.
They are giving loans to farmers without charging any interest on them and the state govt has offered to pay the difference to NABARD.
As the cooperative banks embody the philosophy of mutual cooperation and help, they could work helping the poor and the intermediate class gain basic economic ability.
However, the minister expressed his resolve to improve things in the cooperative sector. He aimed his barbed remarks at the cooperative societies especially the ones in Banglore that have of late been grabbing the screaming headlines for their highly dishonest and illegal activities.
He has asked his officials to prepare a list of such cooperative bodies. He told the press that 21 district cooperative banks and the Kolar district central cooperative bank were defunct as a large number of their loanees had defaulted on their payments.