"Merge weak co-op banks with healthy banks"

NEW DELHI, September 27: Weak urban cooperative banks should be merged with healthy banks along with infusion of funds to reduce sickness in the banking sector, an apex cooperative body has said.

“Weak cooperative banks need to be rehabilitated by infusion of funds and by improvement in their management through merger with healthier banks,” the National Federation of Urban Co-operative Banks and Credit Societies (NAFCUB) President, Dr S S Sisodia said.

Addressing the annual general meeting (AGM) of NAFCUB, Sisodia said one of the worrisome aspects of the urban cooperative banking sector is the existence of weak banks which number over 200. NAFCUB, in a statement, also said that control by Government in urban cooperative banks should be minimal to avoid operational difficulties. “If government at the Centre or in state, does not contribute to the share capital of cooperative banks, then it does not have right to interfere in the bank’s operations,” he said.