Will return money of depositors of Urban Cooperative Bank Bhubaneswar: Odisha CM

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday announced that his government would return the money to the people who lost their savings after the Urban Cooperative Bank, Bhubaneswar shut operations in 2015.

Addressing a function from where he launched 1,542 Multipurpose Primary Agriculture Cooperatives (MPACs), Majhi said his government took the decision to return the money of the depositors to re-establish people's trust in the cooperative banking system.

The Urban Cooperative Bank, Bhubaneswar shut operations in 2015 after the RBI cancelled its licence as the state government failed to merge it with some other co-operative bank. A total of 13,797 depositors lost around Rs 30 crore because of it, while loans worth Rs 17.82 crore remained uncollected from 1,760 customers.

With Majhi launching the new MPACs, their total number went up to 4,253.

He said the government has decided to take up 54 programmes under the cooperative sector.

These programmes include the introduction of model by-laws to diversify the Primary Agriculture Cooperatives, strengthening them through computerisation, supply of fertilisers and seeds, setting up public medicine centres, common service centres and agricultural service centres, among others, he said.

Majhi said the state government has decided to develop 77 PACs as model PACs in the first phase.

He said these model PACs will act as a one-stop shop, where all types of agriculture-related services will be available.

The CM said efforts were on to restore people's trust in cooperatives and make them a major engine of rural economic development.

Unless there is computerisation, there will be corruption, he said, adding that he has ordered a thorough audit of the accounts of all primary cooperatives.

"More than 90 per cent of the agricultural families of our state are provided with various services for agricultural work through PACs," he said.

The CM said OMFED (Odisha Milk Federation) has become a backbone for dairy farmers in the state.

At the function, Majhi distributed micro ATM and Rupay cards to members of some cooperative societies.