Cooperation Minister V.N. Vasavan has said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s approval for Malappuram District Cooperative Bank’s merger with Kerala Bank is expected soon.
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Speaking after tabling the Kerala Cooperative Societies (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022, at the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, Mr. Vasavan said the RBI nod was bound to be expedited with the Kerala High Court vacating a stay that hindered the merger. As many as 769 branches that previously functioned under the 13 district cooperative banks (DCB) except the one in Malappuram had already received the requisite RBI licence.
The Bill, which sought to extend the deadline for the merger by a year, was referred to the Subject Committee XI (on Food, Civil Supplies and Cooperation) following discussions.
Participating in the discussions, A.N. Shamseer [CPI (M)] said the Malappuram DCB refrained from passing a resolution under Section 14A of the Kerala Cooperative Societies Act owing to the stubborn attitude of a “microscopic wealthy group”. The decision denied the people of the district several benefits including reduced gold and agriculture loans. Besides, a majority of staff in Malappuram DCB had voiced their support for the merger with the apex cooperative bank, he claimed.
M. Vincent (Congress) said Kerala Bank remained a disjoint group of banks and lacked a common framework three years after its formation. The government had also been unable to complete software integration in its branches across the State. Moreover, over 1,500 posts that were yet to be reported to the Kerala Public Service Commission remained vacant, he said.