KOLHAPUR: The heads and chief officers of all district central cooperative (DCC) banks from the state have decided to meet Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Urjit Patil and officials of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).
The heads of DCC banks met on Tuesday in Satara to discuss about demonetisation. Over 60% of the rural people are directly dependent on DCC banks. Pensioners and self-help groups also have accounts with them.
After demonetisation, the RBI prohibited cooperative banks to exchange old notes with new ones, and stopped the process of depositing money in scrapped currency.
Vijaysinha Chavan, chief officer of Kolhapur DCC who attended the meeting, said, "The Supreme Court has asked the RBI to get deposits with DCC banks submitted and infuse currency in rural banks to provide relief to the farmers, daily wage labourers and other sections of the society facing troubles due to cash crunch."
He added, "We have requested the chairman of legislative council Ramraje Nimbalkar to take a delegation of DCC bank representatives to meet RBI governor and NABARD officials. We will urge them to follow the courts order and accept the cash piled in the banks and increase the cash flow."
The RBI took a decision to restrict DCC banks from accepting old currency notes, suspecting that irregularity would take place as these banks are under political influence. Owing to the decision, the banks could not transfer loans to farmers for Rabi season.
The decision to meet RBI governor is being considered as to put pressure on the government as well which is reluctant to relax the norms even after the growing demand from all corners of the society.
Meanwhile, the Income Tax department raided the main branch of KDCC bank in Sangli. It is learnt that the raid has been taken after scrutinising the account books which showed irregularities in depositing Rs 300 crore in old notes.
According to bank officials, the IT officers have taken the CCTV footage into custody. The bank has appealed the depositors that there is no need to panic as the bank officials have done nothing wrong.