No immediate elections for Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank, says Ajit Pawar
PUNE Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Friday said that the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) that attracted negative publicity few years back has earned gross profit of ₹1,400 crore
PUNE Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Friday said that the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) that attracted negative publicity few years back has earned gross profit of ₹1,400 crore. While the elections are due for the apex bank of district cooperative banks and other cooperative financial institutes, the state government is not willing to hold elections immediately.
The MSCB had an administrator since 2011.
“As per law, there is no hurdle in conducting elections for MSCB. The bank is performing well under the leadership of the administrator. As of now, we are not in a hurry to conduct elections,” said Pawar.
The MSCB and cooperative sector is dominated by NCP and Congress. The party leaders are keeping their political weight alive through their participation in the cooperative sector. As the MSCB is the apex body, it is natural that political leaders would want to have their hold on this bank and conduct elections. But as per Pawar’s statement, it is clear that there will be no immediate elections.
Since 2011, there are administrative officers who serve as an administrator to the bank. Currently Vidhyadhar Anaskar is the administrator and chairman of MSCB. He is the first non-government representative to be appointed for that position.
Anaskar said, “It is true that the elections can be held. During the pandemic there was a ban on all elections, but now, with the restrictions lifted elections are being held in district cooperative banks and primary credit cooperative banks. I am here for the past four years.”
