Thiruvananthapuram: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s refusal to meet the chief minister led delegation has triggered an all out war between the Centre and the state government on the issue of crisis in co-operative sector.
While the BJP is trying to portray the RBI curbs imposed on the co-operative sector as part of the Centre’s nation-wide drive against black money, the CPM-led LDF has countered the move accusing Mr Modi of targeting the co-operative banks and primary credit societies which are the mainstay of rural economy.
The CPM believes that the “onslaught” against co-operative banks in the garb of demonetisation was actually part of BJP’s game plan to weaken its stronghold in the sector.
The BJP which has very little presence in the cooperative sector is not quite concerned about the repercussions of tightening the noose around co-operative banks. It feels that the RBI has hit the CPM-controlled co-operative banks where it hurts the most.
But caught in the CPM-BJP cross fire are hundreds and thousands of poor and hapless people who depend hugely on the cooperative banks and credit societies at the grassroots level. Women self-help groups, welfare pensions, welfare boards transactions involving a large number of people, take place through the cooperative banks.
Moreover, the co-operative sector, which holds more than Rs 60,000 crore deposits and has disbursed more than Rs 30,000 crore in loans, played a crucial role in state’s economy especially in the semi-urban and rural areas covering 1.5 crore customers.
Even though the CPM has launched a massive campaign against the BJP, it will have to provide convincing answers on the allegations that cooperative banks do not adhere to KYC norms, do not insist on knowing the source of income and details of PAN card and do not file TDS. Clearly the CPM will have to ensure that co-operative sector came clean on these charges, to put up a credible fight against the BJP led Centre.
The CPM, however, has dared the BJP to visit any cooperative bank of their choice to bring out the violations.
Going by the Centre’s stiff stand on the issue the possibility of stringent action against cooperative sector cannot be ruled out. Clearly the sparring between the Centre and state government on the issue is unlikely to end anytime soon.
