Bank with Amit Shah as director collected highest amount of banned notes among DCCBs
Mumbai, June 21: A district cooperative bank, with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah as director, netted the highest deposits among such banks of old ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes that were demonetised on November 8, 2016, according to RTI replies received by a Mumbai activist.
The Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank (ADCB) secured deposits of ₹745.59 crore of the banned notes—in just five days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the demonetisation announcement. All the district cooperative banks were banned from accepting deposits of the demonetised currency notes from the public after November 14, 2016—five days after demonetisation—on fears that black money would be laundered through this route.
According to the bank's website, Shah continues to be a director with the bank and has been in that position for several years. He was also the bank's chairman in 2000. ADCB's total deposits on March 31, 2017, were ₹5,050 crore and its net profit for 2016-17 was ₹14.31 crore.
Right behind ADCB, is the Rajkot District Cooperative Bank, whose chairman Jayeshbhai Vitthalbhai Radadiya is a cabinet minister in Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani's government. It got deposits of old currencies worth ₹693.19 crore.
Interestingly, Rajkot is the hub of Gujarat BJP politics—Prime Minister Modi was first elected from there as a legislator in 2001.
Incidentally, the figures of Ahmedabad-Rajkot DCCBs are much higher than the apex Gujarat State Cooperative Bank Ltd, which got deposits of a mere ₹1.11 crore.
"The amount of deposits made in the State Cooperative Banks (SCBs) and District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs)—revealed under RTI for first time since demonetisation—are astounding," Manoranjan S. Roy, the RTI activist who made the effort to get the information, told IANS.
The RTI information was given by the Chief General Manager and Appellate Authority, S Saravanavel, of the National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development (NABARD).
It has also come to light, through the RTI queries, that only seven public sector banks (PSBs), 32 SCBs, 370 DCCBs, and a little over three-dozen post offices across India collected ₹7.91 lakh crore—more than half (52%) of the total amount of old currencies of ₹15.28 lakh crore deposited with the RBI.
The break-up of ₹7.91 lakh crore mentioned in the RTI replies shows that the value of spiked notes deposited with the RBI by the seven PSBs was ₹7.57 lakh crore, the 32 SCBs gave in ₹6,407 crore and the 370 DCCBs brought in ₹22,271 crore. Old notes deposited by 39 post offices were worth ₹4,408 crore.
Information from all the SCBs and DCCBs across India were received through the replies. The seven PSBs account for around 29,000 branches—out of the over 92,500 branches of the 21 PSBs in India—according to data published by the RBI. The 14 other PSBs declined to gave information on one ground or the other. There are around 155,000 post offices in the country.
Fifteen months after demonetisation, the government had announced that ₹15.28 lakh crore—or 99% of the cancelled notes worth ₹15.44 lakh crore—were returned to the RBI treasury.
Roy said it was a serious matter if only a few banks and their branches and a handful post offices, apart from SCBs and DCCBs, accounted for over half the old currency notes. "At this rate, serious questions arise about the actual collection of spiked notes through the remaining 14 mega-PSBs, besides rural-urban banks, private banks (like ICICI, HDFC and others), local cooperatives, Jankalyan Banks and credit cooperatives and other entities with banking licenses, the figures of which are not made available under RTI," he said.
The SCBs were allowed to exchange or take deposits of banned notes till December 30, 2016—for a little over seven weeks, in contrast to district cooperative banks which were allowed only five days of transactions.
The prime minister during his demonetisation speech had said that ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes could be deposited in bank or post office accounts from November 10 till close of banking hours on December 30, 2016, without any limit. "Thus you will have 50 days to deposit your notes and there is no need for panic," he had said.
After an uproar, mostly from BJP allies, the government also opened a small window in mid-2017, during the presidential elections, allowing the 32 SCBs and 370 DCCBs—largely owned, managed or controlled by politicians of various parties—to deposit their stocks of the spiked notes with the RBI. The move was strongly criticised by the Congress and other major Opposition parties.
Among the SCBs, the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank topped the list of depositors with ₹1,128 crore from 55 branches and the smallest share of ₹5.94 crore came from just five branches of Jharkhand State Cooperative Bank, according to the replies.
The poorest of all the cooperative banks in the country is Banki Central Cooperative Bank Ltd in Odisha, which admitted to receiving zero deposits of the spiked currency.
Of the total 21 PSBs, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Bank of Maharashtra, Central Bank of India, Dena Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Punjab & Sindh Bank, Vijaya Bank, Andhra Bank, Syndicate Bank, UCO Bank, United Bank of India, Oriental Bank of Commerce, and IDBI Bank (14 banks)—with over 63,500 branches amongst them—did not give any information on deposits.
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Kharge has put 'full stop' to leadership speculation in Karnataka: Minister Parameshwara
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Friday said AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge has put a "full stop" on the issue of leadership change in the state.
Kharge's statement has a lot of significance and there ends the matter for now. Everyone in the party should respect and accept this, he said.
Parameshwara was referring to Kharge's statement on Thursday that there was no chief minister change in Karnataka "for now" and that the leadership issue in the state will be resolved soon.
Kharge's statement came amid speculation within the party and political circles about a possible decision on leadership change and cabinet reshuffle after May 4, once the results for assembly elections in four states and one union territory, along with bypolls to two assembly segments in Karnataka, are announced.
"Mallikarjun Kharge is our party's national president. He has a lot of experience. Several people, including me, have said that in the case of change (in leadership), if he (Kharge) comes (as CM), no one could speak in front of his experience and everyone would accept it. While replying to it, Kharge said that there is a chief minister now, and there is no question of change as of now," Parameshwara said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "I welcome his (Kharge) statement because I feel he has expressed his opinion after a discussion involving him, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala (both AICC general secretaries). I may be right or wrong. I feel that his statement has a lot of significance. So that matter ends there for now."
Responding to a question on repeated statements by several party leaders regarding leadership change, the home minister said, what the AICC chief has said on the matter is final. It should be respected and accepted by all in the party. There is no meaning in interpreting it further.
"I cannot respond to what others say, but I can say my opinion. In my opinion, the AICC chief is the supreme authority in the party. He, along with Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, are our high command. If the high command has said something, we should both respect and accept it. There ends the matter," he said.
Kharge has put a "full stop" on the issue, he further said, adding that, "When he has said there is no change. It is a full stop."
Responding to a question on Parameshwara's recent statement about Kharge becoming chief minister, the AICC chief on Thursday said, "You (media), he (Parameshwara), and people at the top say that it is better if I become CM. But more than fate, as per my ideology and my service to the party so far, Sonia Gandhi makes decisions regarding me."
He had further said, "But that question does not arise now. There is already a CM here. If Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and I together have to take any decision in that direction, it will take some time. Let's wait and see."
Kharge on Friday too said no date has been fixed yet to discuss a possible leadership change in Karnataka.
Supporters of Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar have been insisting on his elevation in line with a reported power-sharing agreement with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah when the party won the 2023 Assembly elections. Some have even claimed that "sweet news" is expected by May 15, which is Shivakumar's birthday.
The leadership tussle within the ruling party has intensified amid speculation about a possible change of chief minister after the Congress government completed the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20, 2025.
The speculation has been fuelled by a reported "power-sharing" arrangement between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar at the time of government formation in 2023.
