Despite the fact that the cooperative sector and district cooperative banks were the backbone of rural economy and prosperity, their exploitation for personal ends by a handful of politicians coupled with nepotism and flouting of rules while granting loans has resulted in the ruin of Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) and the network of 31 district cooperative banks.
Despite the fact that the cooperative sector and district cooperative banks were the backbone of rural economy and prosperity, their exploitation for personal ends by a handful of politicians coupled with nepotism and flouting of rules while granting loans has resulted in the ruin of Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) and the network of 31 district cooperative banks.
The state cooperative bank, referred to as the apex bank in the state, is under the administrators since there were irregularities owing to loans without mortgage and flouting of rules resulting in losses in crores. The apex bank had personalities like former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil and others that were among those served with notices for inquiry.
Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana founder and Hatkanangale Lok Sabha MP Raju Shetty has said that whether it is district cooperative banks or MSCB, they are all victims of the 'Golden Gang' of a handful of Congress-NCP leaders who have looted the cooperative sector to grind their own political axes.
Shetty, in an interview to dna, said that these people had created a vicious circle; they started their own cooperatives, granted loans and ensuring they are not repaid. Shetty alleged that it was the same set of people who bought the properties of the cooperatives during the auction which brought the district banks as well as the state bank in trouble.
Dr Kumar Saptarshi, founder of Yuvak Kranti Dal (Yukrand) and former MLA from Ahmednagar district, which is famous for the cooperatives network said that the handful of leaders from Congress and NCP have exploited cooperative sector for their political ambitions, ruining the classic sense of the word cooperation. He pointed out that the cooperative movement started from Germany and reached India in the first decade of the 20th century. He said that it started with pledging that we don't need God since we believe in our colleagues in the cooperative. That is how, Saptarshi pointed out, the cooperatives came into being. Now, he pointed out that the entire connotation of the word has lost its meaning and these people have looted the entire sector.
Saptarshi pointed out that the small cooperative businesses in rural Maharashtra were started to empower people but these people started cooperatives just to mint money. They helped their relatives, Saptarshi said, to come out with such cooperatives and benefit with share capital, loans which ultimately went sick. Raju Shetty alleged that these people knew while starting the cooperatives that they would be duping the banks.
Both Shetty and Saptarshi said that a handful Congress and NCP politicos duped the cooperative sector for their political purpose and that is the reason district cooperative banks and the state cooperative bank is in the docks.
The Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank Limited is the apex bank in the state which has 31 district cooperative banks that reach out to rural Maharashra for all kinds of credit supply for farmers and agri-related activities. Most of the district cooperative banks, barring a handful, are facing huge losses due to a number of reasons.
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