Pune DCCB: Durgade elected Chairman; Pawar & Patil buck him up

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Digambar Durgade and Sunil Chandere have been elected as the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Pune District Cooperative Bank, in an election held on Saturday at the bank’s headquarters.

Those present on the eve of elections included Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil and other VIPs. Durgade and Chandere have replaced Ramesh Thorat and Archana Ghare respectively.

There is a stronghold of NCP leaders in the bank and in the elections of 21 seats of the board of directors 17 seats had gone in the kitty of NCP and others went to BJP and Congress.

After the election, talking to Indian Cooperative the newly elected bank Chairman Prof. Durgade said, “I am very thankful to the NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar and other leaders for reposing faith in me and giving me such a big responsibility to take the charge of the bank. I hope that I will meet their expectations to take the bank to newer heights”.

“In the interest of farmers and the weaker sections of society, we will cut down the interest rate and launch several schemes to woo them. We will upgrade the latest technology and try to bring a professional approach in banking activities. We will also study the working style of other successful banks”, Durgade said to this correspondent on the phone.

As soon as the name of the new Chairman and Vice-Chairman was announced, the news went viral like wildfire on social media. Their supporters rushed to felicitate them with garlands. The veteran leaders of NCP and other parties started congratulating them for their victory.

In this series, Member of Parliament and NCP Chief Sharad Pawar Daughter Supriya Sule wrote, “Dr. Digambar Durgade and Sunil Chandere were elected as the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Pune District Central Co-operative Bank. The bank will benefit from the experience and work”.

Maharashtra PWD Minister and bank Director Dattatray Bharane wrote on his Twitter wall, “Congratulations Prof. Dr. Digambar Durgade and Shri. Sunil Chandere was elected as the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Pune District Central Co-operative Bank. Best wishes for the future!”

NCP MLA Nilesh Lanke wrote, ” Congratulations to Prof. Digambar Durgade for being elected as the Chairman of Pune District Central Co-operative Bank and Mr. Sunil Chandere for being elected as the Vice-Chairman! It is believed that they will work to enhance the reputation of the bank while taking care of the interests of the members!”.

Amidst Covid-19, the bank earned a gross profit to the tune of Rs 282.51 crore in the 2020-21 financial year which is the highest ever in its 104 years of history. The bank crossed a business mix of Rs 19000 crore.