Union Home Minister Amit Shah along with Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis during a visit to Hedgivar Smriti Temple in Nagpur on Saturday. | Photo credit: ANI
Union Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that the cooperative sector in the country needs to do a self-evaluation to improve the system and the exercise will get full support of the Centre.
Addressing the ‘Sahkar Maha Conclave on Banking and Sugar Industry’ organized by Media Group SakalMr. Shah also pointed to the decline in the number of cooperative sugar mills and the increase in the number of private mills in Maharashtra.
“As far as credit societies, urban banks and district co-operative banks are concerned, a lot needs to be done. We have had several meetings with the Reserve Bank of India and I can tell you about the issues brought to me here. platform, we will ensure that all these institutions do not face any injustice.
Mr. Shah, who is the country’s first Union Cooperation Minister as well as Home Minister, said he is aware of the problems of these institutions and also understands why they exist.
“I will talk about Maharashtra since I am in Maharashtra. There were 202 cooperative sugar mills in Maharashtra. Today the number has reduced to 101. There were 22 private sugar mills in the state, but now it has increased to 93. Our (cooperative) space was eaten.
Breach of trust
Citing confidence issues in the backdrop of irregularities in district cooperative banks in Kolhapur, Solapur and Nagpur, which had to appoint administrators, Mr. Shah said this was not a good thing.
He assured the Centre’s support on all issues that would improve the sector, but said that to get such support those running the units should do it properly.
Mr Shah said the RBI has accepted all the norms related to urban co-operative banks and self-identified as “one of the many urban co-operative banks that failed”, giving the example of Pune’s Rupi Co-operative Bank. He repeated the demand.
He praised Maharashtra for quality cooperative institutions like Vasant Dada Sugar Institute.
Reiterating that members will not vote for those who run the co-operative sector properly, Mr. Shah said the Union government will ensure that no institution is given any kind of credit as per Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s formula. Do not face injustice. Sahkar to Samrdhi (Prosperity through Co-operatives).
Mr. Shah said that to achieve the target of providing agricultural finance worth ₹ 10 lakh crore through cooperatives, there is a need to set up more than two lakh basic agricultural credit societies across the country.
“Once these two lakh PACS are built, the barriers to cooperative banks are removed and district and state cooperative banks start functioning properly, then there is no stopping the growth of the cooperative sector. ” asserted Mr. Shah.
“As far as credit societies, urban banks and district cooperative banks are concerned, a lot needs to be done.”Amit ShahUnion Minister for Cooperation
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