PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun
The Uttarakhand government will open three new district cooperative banks in Rudraprayag, Bageshwar and Champawat and open 50 new branches of cooperative banks in different parts of the State. An order in this regard was given by the Cooperation minister Dhan Singh Rawat to the officers in a review meeting of the Cooperative department held at his official residence on Saturday. The minister said that the department should prepare a proposal for opening new district cooperative banks and 50 branches for submission to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The minister said that opening of new cooperative bank branches across the State will provide banking services to remote and rural areas of the State. While reviewing the performance of the district cooperative banks over the past two years, Rawat expressed his displeasure at the failure to achieve the expected business targets. He directed officers to make banking operations more result-oriented and ensure timely achievement of set targets. In an important decision, it was also decided that the cooperative society, IFFCO Tokio, would insure employees of the cooperative banks. In the meeting, the minister reviewed the progress of computerization of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) and directed the department officers to complete it expeditiously to promote transparency and efficiency. Rawat also directed the officers to expedite the timely promotion and annual transfer process of the employees.
He stated that the cooperative sector is the backbone of the state’s rural economy and the government is committed to strengthening it. Rawat directed officers to ensure that the benefits of schemes reach the last person standing on the social ladder and expand the cooperative movement to the masses.
Additional registrar Ira Upreti, Anand Shukla, joint registrar Neeraj Belwal and other officers of the department attended the meeting.
