Strengthen, protect coop banks: Jagan Mohan Reddy

Vijayawada: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy directed the officials to strengthen cooperative banks and offer loans to the needy at lowest interest rates possible.

The Chief Minister emphasised on protecting cooperative banks as they belong to the State and asked the officials to provide loans at lowest interest rates possible to benefit a large number of people. He discussed the strengthening of DCCBs, societies, computerisation, transparency policies, and integrating with RBKs (Rythu Bharosa Kendras) to reach a greater extent.

The Chief Minister stated that the DCCBs and societies should be strengthened in such a way to withstand the competition in the banking sector and said that the banks would prosper by providing a good amount of loans to the public. He directed the authorities to follow proper SOPs and told them to focus on bringing profits to DCCBs.

Jagan asked the co-operative banks to take advantage of the opportunities like providing gold loans, as they have complete security on the loans. He stated that revolutionary changes have been brought in the agriculture sector through the RBK initiative and said that District Central Co-operative Banks need to be strengthened as they play a vital role in agriculture and allied sectors.

He instructed the officials to ensure complete transparency in providing loans leaving no place for politics or corruption and stressed that the co-operative banks should take steps to instil confidence in their customers.

The Chief Minister also emphasised that banking activities of Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Societies (PACS) should be carried out through RBKs and asked the officials to map the PACS accordingly and link them to RBKS, as banking correspondents are already working from RBKs liaising between farmers and banks. He told them to chart a policy by taking suggestions from banking experts.

He said the District Co-operative Banks and Societies should bring good management practices to benefit farmers and make use of kiosks in RBKs for banking activities, where the farmers can even upload documents.

The Chief Minister also directed the authorities to take appropriate action on the complaints and suggestions received from the farmers during agriculture advisory council meetings.