PANAJI
The tottering Co-operative Banking sector in Goa was the focus in the discussion on the demands for grants pertaining to cooperation with lawmakers seeking reforms and intervention in reviving the sector which plays a major role in rural economies in the State.
Straddled as it was by the collapse of two of the larger co-operative banks of the State -- Mapusa Urban Co-operative Bank and the Madgaum Urban Co-operative Bank -- the co-operative banking sector, including the co-operative credit societies, legislators said were in need of timely and special intervention by the State government.
Nuvem MLA Aleixo Sequeira, raised the issue of several multi-State cooperative banks and credit societies setting foot in the State and demanded to know whether the Registrar of Co-operative Societies or the government had any supervisory or other powers over them.
Citing the example of the Visionaries Co-operative Credit Society, Sequeira said the institution in which several people had deposited their hard earned money collapsed because the RCS had failed to monitor it or conduct its audits for three consecutive financial years. He urged the government to come up with some package or scheme by which people who had lost their money in the fiasco are compensated by at least their principal amount.
Sequeira also made a case for the government to come up with an amendment in the existing laws to ensure common bye-laws for all the Cooperative Credit Societies to prevent them from designing their own bye-laws which fail to safeguard the interest of their depositors.
Margao MLA, Digambar Kamat, Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai and several other legislators also joined in the discussion to underscore the need to revive the sector.
They pointed out that the co-operative banking sector did play a significant role in the progress of the local economy over several decades, especially in financially backing small entrepreneurs.
Sardesai said, this sector had taken a major hit when the mining sector got disrupted as many of the affected businesses at the tail-end of the industry especially truck owners, machinery leasing contractors were borrowers of these co-operative banks.
He said the RCS should be ready with a roadmap to back the banks in this sector so that the demand for loans from small entrepreneurs is met when mining restarts.
