Sah Bharati: Prez vows to make UP’s UCBs, a role model for country

Speaking on the occasion of UCBs conclave in Ghaziabad, Sahakar Bharati President D N Thakur said the urban cooperative banks of Uttar Pradesh would soon be a role model for UCBs of the rest of India.

“There are about sixty UCBs in the state but they have never come up as successful entities at the national level. We assure you today that with the help of the state federation, Sahakar Bharati will ensure that UP’s banks make a mark at the national level”, declared Thakur.

Thakur put a precondition and said we have to act above board so that no one can point a finger at us. “We have to be honest and we have to be transparent; only a genuine person has the guts to take on the mightiest of power”, said Thakur underlining that being a govt officer in the past he knows the power of an honest man or entity.

Asking UP Head of Sahakar Bharati Narendra Upadhyay to make a list of issues being faced by the representatives of UCBs, Thakur assured that Sahakar Bharati will take up the issues at every platform-bureaucratic, political or even legal. UP’s banks will offer new role models for UCBs across the country but you have to be absolutely honest for that”, exhorted Thakur.

Earlier, several representatives of the sector listed issues being faced by them. Tired of Inspectors and queries from Registrar offices, members said that the inspection of the same file in many cases is done by several officers starting from Assistant Registrar to Deputy Registrar.

Ram Sudhare, a former DGM of RBI who was present in the meeting said that though the Registrar office has no concern with the issue of banking yet it interferes now and then. The menace of dual control is still there and UCBs are hassled by state govt more often than not, he stated.

R C Verma, the UP head of UCBs’ Federation listed the issues being faced by the sector in the state. Verma said the AGM of Unit Bank in the district turns out to be very large and thus a system to have delegates as in the case of large UCB should be followed. He also said that the dual control is still in vogue, leading to harassment of banks.

Verma also raised the issue of compulsion of lending 75% in priority sector, Rs 25 lac limit on housing loan and issue of loan portfolio to be of 50%. He also raised the issue of ineffective Tafcub. Later, Marathe answered his queries on each point.

Narendra Upadhayay assured the delegates that their issues would be taken up at all the levels including that at CM’s office.

Abhay Mate, the Head of Banking at Sahakar Bharati also spoke on the need to have proper training of members with the banking rules and regulation. He informed that Sahakar Bharati is in the process of setting up one such Centre for the benefits of the members.

Mate, who is also the Chairman of Janata Sahakari Bank Pune cautioned the members about the guideline on Risk Based Internal Audit and said that each of us with more than Rs 500 crore of business need to do this before the deadline.