The National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) on Wednesday raised serious concerns over the Reserve Bank’s guidelines for merging District Central Co-operative Banks (DCCBs) with State Cooperative Banks (StCBs), saying the move will “destroy” the rural cooperative credit institutions. On May 24, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued the guidelines and said it will consider amalgamation of DCCBs with StCBs subject to various conditions, including that a proposal should be made by the state government concerned.
“This is unjustified, and it will destroy the rural cooperative credit institutions in the country causing a lot of problems to the farmers,” NCUI President Dileep Sanghani said in a statement.
National Federation of State Cooperative Banks’ Managing Director Bhima Subrahmanyam said the intention of RBI guidelines is to destabilise and dismantle the three-tier cooperative credit structure in the country.
“The notification is uncalled for, and is provocative, prompting and mischievous,” he said.
During a national conclave of District Cooperative Banks in March, there was vehement opposition to merger of DCCBs with StCBs.
