Amit Shah wants to modernise co-op banks

Presently, the role of urban cooperative banks is negligible in the total banking sector in terms of deposit and advance payment, Amit Shah said

Union Minister for Home Affairs and Cooperation Amit Shah. File | Photo Credit: PTI

Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that cooperative banks will not be given a “second grade” treatment but they should adopt modern and transparent banking methods to stay in competition. He said that cooperatives should give way to younger people in management roles and engage professionals to run day-to-day affairs.

Mr. Shah, recalling the important role played by cooperative banks, said that he personally knows the story of at least three industrialists in the country, who started their business with ₹5 lakh loan granted by cooperative banks. “Today, the three industrialists are the biggest contributors to the country’s GDP,” Mr. Shah said.

He said presently, there were more than 195 cooperative banks that were more than 100 years old. He said despite this, the role of urban cooperative banks is negligible in the total banking sector in terms of deposit and advance payment.

“There are 1,534 urban cooperative banks, 54 scheduled urban cooperative banks… but the development is uneven. We need symmetric development of urban cooperative banks,” Mr. Shah said.

The symmetric development of cooperative banks will help sustain competition in future, he said.

Mr. Shah was addressing the National Convention of Scheduled and Multi-State Urban Co-operative Banks and Credit Societies organized by the Ministry of Cooperation and National Federation of Urban Cooperative Banks and Credit Societies Limited (NAFCUB).

He said those who dismissed cooperatives as “irrelevant “ should look at the success achieved by Amul, Lijjat Papad and IFFCO.

“Only Urban State Cooperative Banks can give loans to the smallest section of society for upliftment of that section, and making them participants in the process of development and a stakeholder in the country’s economy. This can be done only by cooperatives….today, when ordinary people want loans for small things of everyday life, they look towards Cooperative banks,” Mr. Shah said. 

Minister of State for cooperation B. L. Verma, National Federation of Urban Cooperative Banks and Credit Societies (NAFCUB) president Jyotindra Mehta and Cooperation Secretary Gyanesh Kumar were present at the event.