Manoj Kushwaha
Kangra Cooperative Bank Chairman Laxmi Das has demanded an immediate withdrawal of the Direct tax code being proposed by the Government. Cooperative leaders from NCUI President Chandra Pal Singh to village level have rejected the provision of direct tax code in various meeting.
Elaborating on the negative consequence of direct tax code on urban cooperative banking sector Mr Das asked for jettisoning the idea.
Active in the NCR region for more than 3 decades the Kangra Cooperative bank has morphed from a credit cooperative body into a full-fledged Cooperative Bank in 1978. It is the continuous growth of the bank that has made the transformation possible.
Boasting seven branches with 1 lakh 10 thousand account holders the bank had notched up 9 crores in profits this year.
Talking to the Indian Cooperative.com Laxmi Das, Chairman of the bank said that the bank had a turnover of Rs.400 crores this year.
The bank would work to achieve the twin goals of increasing profits and building a network of branches in the days ahead, he added.
Laxmi Das asserted that he did not expect any financial assistance from the govt as the bank had come into being on the strength of the support from its members.
But he expected the govt to come out with a policy that would ease the tax burdens on the cooperative banks.
Mr Das also expressed his hope that the govt would soon take such steps as would promote the interests of the cooperative bank sector in the country.