The chairman of State Bank of India, Rajnish Kumar, on Monday said that cooperative banks should be like small finance or payment banks that function without providing loan facilities.
Kumar was responding to a query related to the mismanagement of Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank (PMC) for fraudulently providing loans to Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) and thus risking deposits of numerous customers.
Kumar was in the city to inaugurate an e-lobby at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research’s newly-constructed Nehru Hospital Extension Block and donated an ambulance to the institute.
“Reforms are required to improve the functioning of the cooperative banks. A cooperative bank giving away a big loan is not feasible for the system,” Kumar said on the sidelines of the function.
He said on the administrative side, there should be a single entity to govern their functioning. “These banks come under the purview of the Reserve Bank of India, central governments and state governments, and we need to do away with that so that a single body should be handed over the charge to look after their functioning,” he said.
On how the economy is progressing, he said, “Right now, I cannot comment on when the economic slowdown will be over. We need to wait for the next couple of months for more data to know how the economy is doing. Our economy is in a transitional phase, after the important reforms, which have been undertaken in the past,” Kumar said.
{{/usCountry}}On how the economy is progressing, he said, “Right now, I cannot comment on when the economic slowdown will be over. We need to wait for the next couple of months for more data to know how the economy is doing. Our economy is in a transitional phase, after the important reforms, which have been undertaken in the past,” Kumar said.
{{/usCountry}}Commenting on the factors responsible for the economic slowdown, Kumar said that investment in the private sector was not satisfactory.
“People in the private sector want assurance on the capital returns and right now the economy needs more investment from the private sector,” he added. Regarding cyber crime, the SBI chairman said we should decrease the use of debit cards and instead use integrated digital banking platforms like SBI’s YONO mobile application.
He also inaugurated the bank’s new administrative office in Sector 68, Mohali, which covers 13 districts of Punjab, including Mohali, Hoshiarpur, Patiala and Bathinda.
He also inaugurated a heritage gallery at its local head office where the bank’s over 200-year journey from its inception to date has been depicted by means of photographs and a few antiques collected from various branches of the bank situated in the Punjab circle.