Tortoise treatment

Co-operative banks account for a minuscule proportion of the country’s total banking business and nothing reflects this more than the slower-than-tortoise pace at which the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sends them orders. In the second quarterly review of monetary policy announced in October 2012, the RBI reiterated its standing instruction banning bank finance for gold purchases. A detailed order on this was sent to scheduled commercial banks immediately. The same instruction for the co-operative banks, including the state and Central co-operative banks, came much later in February, over a week after the third quarterly review of monetary policy was announced on January 29.