The cooperative sector banks will raise the interest rate on deposits by half a per cent, Minister for Cooperation Kadakampally Surendran has said.
Inaugurating a State-level campaign launched by the Kerala Cooperative Deposit Guarantee Fund Board here on Saturday, Mr. Surendran assured that the funds deposited by the people in cooperative sector banks were safe and to assuage any apprehension in the minds of the depositors, the government had decided to stand guarantee for the deposits up to Rs.2 lakh. At present, the board has a scheme in place which assured a guaranteed amount of Rs.1.5 lakh. It is this amount which has been raised to Rs.2 lakh.
According to him, it has also decided to offer two per cent remission to those who repay their credit on time.
Calling upon the Central government to desist from steps to destroy the cooperative sector, the Minister said while the Central authorities had raised an accusing finger at the cooperatve sector banks for harbouring black money, they had not been able to nail any one of them. Instead, it was the new-generation banks, nationalised banks and Post Offices which had been caught dealing in black money, he said.
Mr. Surendran said the State government would go ahead with an intensive deposit mobilisation programme for the cooperative banks. As part of this, the campaign has been extend to January 31. The maximum rate of interest for deposits would be nine per cent. It has also been decided to introduce an accident insurance for depositors between the age of 18 and 60 years which would provide them an amount of Rs.50,000 in case of death in accidents. Banks which mobilise the highest amount will be provided with a cash incentive of Rs.10,000 at the district-level and Rs.25,000 at the State-level.
Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, MLA, presided. P. Venugopal, secretary, Department of Cooperation; S. Lalithambika, registrar; V.N. Vasavan, district secretary, CPI(M); V.B. Binu, State council member, CPI; and others spoke.
