Cooperation Minister Amit Shah yesterday said that cooperative banks should adopt modern technology and transparent banking methods to stay in the competition. He said that the role of these banks in India is immense as they can give loans to the smallest section of society for its upliftment. However, currently, the contribution of urban cooperative banks is negligible in the total banking sector in terms of deposit and advance payment, he said.
Insisting that modernization of urban cooperative banks is necessary. Shah said that the Centre, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be working towards this goal. He said, “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.”
Shah was addressing the National Convention of Scheduled and Multi-State Urban Co-operative Banks and Credit Societies, which was organized by the Ministry of Cooperation and National Federation of Urban Cooperative Banks and Credit Societies Limited (NAFCUB).
Furthermore, Amit Shah also congratulated the cooperative banks that had completed 100 years. “India has a rich history of cooperatives. It is a matter of great pride for all of us that today there are many urban cooperative banks in the country that have completed their 100 years of service, some of which have been honored today. I congratulate all the employees of these UCBs,” he said.
During the event, Shah also said that at least195 cooperative banks were more than 100 years old, so their contribution should have been much more than what it was. However, people only think about these banks when they need small loans for accomplishing small things. He said that cooperative banks should upgrade themselves so much, that people don’t think of them as ‘second grade’.
Societies (NAFCUB) president Jyotindra Mehta and Cooperation Secretary Gyanesh Kumar were present at the event.
