UDF asks govt to desist from forming Kerala Co-op Bank

The Congress-led UDF Opposition in Kerala today asked the government to desist from forming a Kerala Co-operative Bank by integrating district co-operative banks with the state co-operative bank.
Opposition leader in the state assembly Ramesh Chennithala alleged that the real intention was to 'squander' the assets and deposits worth crores of rupees in the co-operative sector.
The move would result in the destruction of co-operative movement in the state, Chennithala said.
The CPI-M led LDF government had yesterday approved a report of an expert committee headed by M S Sreeram of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and go ahead with the process to get necessary approval from the Reserve Bank of India.

Chennithala said it was "double standards" on the part of the LDF that opposed the merger of the State Bank of Travancore with SBI to take the initiative for integration of 14 district cooperative banks withe state co-operative bank.
"This will end the democratic character of the co-operative sector, which is the main support base of common man," he added.

As per the proposal, the 14 district co-operative banks will be integrated with the state co-operative bank for the formation of the Kerala Co-operative Bank, to be known as Kerala Bank.
The present three-tier cooperative system would be converted into a two-tier one.

The existing primary agriculture cooperative societies would be retained as such.