Veteran cooperator Vidyadhar Anaskar bagged “Banking Ratna” Award which was given to him jointly by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari and Maharashtra State Cooperative Minister Subhash Deshmukh at a function held in Pune on Saturday.
Pune District Urban Cooperative Banks Association which constituted this award said in a release “the award goes to Anaskar for his contributions in the cooperative sector as well as for becoming the first person from the Urban Cooperative Banking Sector to have been made the Chairman of the Administrative board of Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank.”
The award consisted of Shawal, Citation, Memoto. Anaskar is a name to conjure with within the cooperative sector whose contributions spanning three decades are widely recognized, his friends claimed.
On the occasion, 30 banks were also felicitated for maintaining gross NPA at less than 5 percent and 7 banks for their maximum participation in training activities of the association.
A press release sent to Indian Cooperative form Pune UCBs association reads, “It is our observation that, conferring the awards has certainly proved to be an incentive to the banks for achieving the best results possible. Our awards have created a feeling of respect and pride among banks”, it further reads.
There are about 52 urban cooperative banks which have their headquarters in Pune. Besides, there are about 49 branches of several UCBs headquartered in areas around Pune.
The Pune District Urban Cooperative Banks’ Association was established on 19th May 1979. The association has been working for the betterment of the urban cooperative banking sector.
Speaking on the occasion Nitin Gadkari said “sometimes banks achieve success and sometimes they face failure. Success and failure is part of every sector”. He said there is a need to bring transparency and accountability in the banking system.