MUMBAI: In Maharashtra, the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government is quietly but steadily going ahead to clip the wings of the Congress-NP combine in the cooperative sector in the run-up to the 2019 general elections. Sensing that the District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) are posing hurdles, the government will be directly disbursing loans to farmers through service societies. The decision came after it was found that loan distribution is bad in 13 districts where the financial health of DCCBs is not good.
In September, the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank passed a resolution to change the composition of its board. Instead of 12 directors, the MSC Bank reduced the share of DCCBs to six and increased the representation of urban cooperative banks, which are largely under outfits related to the RSS.
The Opposition claims that almost 67 per cent of its deposits worth Rs 16,000 crore come from the DCCBs, while only 9 per cent are from urbans bank. But, MSC Bank’s head of administrative board Vidyadhar Anaskar claims the decision was taken to ensure there was no monopoly of one sector on bank functioning.
Not only the new move bypasses the usual chain of MSC Bank-DCCB-Service Society-farmer chain, it will also land a blow to the political game played under the guise of DCCBs by the Congress and the NCP.
The stakes are high for the BJP too: The DCCBs will disburse about half of the total `40,000 crore of crop loans disbursed ahead of the Rabi season. Anaskar said a report on the new pattern of loan disbursal is expected soon. “Once the NABARD gives its nod, the plan will be implemented. The change is being proposed keeping in view the best interests of farmers and it won’t have any adverse financial effect on the DCCBs.”
Congress leader and former Cooperatives minister Harshwardhan Patil calls it an attempt to break down the cooperative sector. “Instead of merger, the DCCBs need to be empowered. We had empowered five DCCBs by providing them required financial assistance.”
But, former MD of MSC Bank Pramod Karnad feels all DCCBs should be merged. This will relieve the MSC Bank from undue financial burden and pave way for a robust loan disbursal system, he says
The BJP is also inching towards bringing the cooperative sector under its wings. The Maharashtra State Cooperative Development Corporation was revived in September, while many cooperatives are facing inquiries.
Cooperatives minister Subhash Deshmukh says the inquiries are made just to ensure that the work of cooperatives is transparent. “We regularly receive several complaints about wrongdoings in credit societies, APMCs, dairy cooperatives, sugar mills and all. As a responsible body, we are just ensuring transparency in their conduct.”