Self-help groups (SHGs) promoted by the District Central Cooperative (DCC) Bank have an annual banking transaction of over Rs. 200 crore, Umakant Nagamarapalli, Chairman of the District Cooperative Federation, has said.
Sahakari Saptaha
Speaking at the inauguration of the Sahakari Saptaha at the DCC Bank here on Wednesday, he said the district had over 18,000 SHGs, and most of them were promoted by the bank.
They have around 2.8 lakh members, of which around 1.38 lakh are from the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
Institutions such as the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) have praised the role of the bank in promoting SHGs, he said.
Mr. Nagamarapalli said 171 primary agricultural credit societies were involved in giving agriculture loans and subsidised inputs such as fertilizers to farmers in the district. Cooperatives were moving into new areas such as healthcare and water supply, he added.
Gurunath Jantikar, vice-president of the Karnataka Rajya Souharda Samyukta Sahakari, criticised the Union government’s decision to allow foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail. The Centre should have strengthened cooperative retail chains such as Janata Bazaar instead, he said.
Creating awareness
Sahakari Saptaha was being organised to create awareness about the cooperative movement, he said.
B.G. Shetkar, president of the Bidar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, delivered a special lecture on ‘Direct taxes code and need for additional powers to cooperatives’.
Revenue from taxes
“Only 7 per cent of the Indian population pays taxes. More revenue can be mobilised if this percentage is increased and the tax net widened,” he said.
Deepika Sachin Rathod, zilla panchayat president, inaugurated the programme.
Narayanrao Mannalli, the former MLA and DCC Bank vice-president, Karnataka Mahila Sahakar Maha Mandal president Shakuntala Beldale, and journalist Sadananda Joshi were present.
