Mamata urges PM to withdraw RBI's supervisory role over state co-op banks

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday expressed dissatisfaction over the Centre's move to transfer the supervisory role of state cooperative banks to the Reserve Bank of India, contending that it was against the spirit of cooperative federalism.

The RBI was thus far overseeing the banks' capital adequacy, risk control and lending norms, while management responsibilities were entrusted to the Registrar of Cooperative Societies of the state government.

In a letter written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, Banerjee said the supervisory role and management responsibilities that have been transferred to the central bank should be restored with the Registrar of Cooperative Societies of West Bengal.

The chief minister said the Centre, through an ordinance on June 26, 2020, transferred the powers of supervision of urban and multi-state cooperative banks to the RBI in a "unilateral" manner.

She said that cooperative societies is a state subject and such a move will infringe upon the powers of the government concerned.