Maharashtra-RBI sign MoU on urban cooperative banks

Nagpur, Dec 13 (UNI) The Government of Maharashtra and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen the working of urban cooperative banks in the state.

The MoU was signed on behalf of the State government by Principal Secretary in the department of Cooperation and Marketing J P Dange and Executive Director on behalf of RBI V S Das in a brief ceremony here this morning in the presence of Maharashtra Minister for Cooperation Patangrao Kadam and RBI Deputy Governor Usha Thorat.

Under the MoU, a Task Force for Urban Cooperative Banks (TAFCUB) would be formed that would include the Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Maharashtra, Regional Director, RBI, representatives of the State government and the Central office of RBI besides nominees of the national and State federations of urban cooperative banks, Mr Kadam told newsmen after the signing ceremony.

TAFCUB would examine the financial status of urban cooperative banks in Maharashtra and draw up a time-bound action plan for the revival of those potentially viable among them and guide them, Mr Kadam said.

The MoU provided for effective audit of urban cooperative banks and would facilitate the merger of weak banks into stronger banks, he said.

Ms Thorat said the RBI would facilitate human resources development and information technology initiatives in urban cooperative banks. TAFCUB would be a consultative and advisory forum that would work in a non-disruptive way to strengthen urban cooperative banks, she said.

Maharashtra had become the ninth state in the country to sign such a MoU with RBI, Ms Throat said, adding that Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Uttaranchal had already done so.

There were 630 urban cooperative banks in Maharashtra as on March 31 last, with 4,200 branches, deposits of Rs 72,400 crore and loans of Rs 47,822 crore.

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