Centre should change its attitude towards cooperative banks: Sharad Pawar
Pune (PTI): Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar has said that the Union government must change its attitude towards cooperative banks and support them because they serve the common people.
There is a misconception that irregularities largely take place in cooperative banks, the former Union agriculture minister said at a function here on Thursday.
Pawar was speaking at the closing ceremony of the golden jubilee of Vishweshwar Cooperative Bank Ltd.
Nationalised and scheduled banks in the country account for more than 90 per cent of irregularities whereas cooperative sector banks account for only 0.46 per cent irregularities, he said.
"I get worried when I see how the cooperative bank sector is being looked at. The Union government has invested heavily in nationalised banks. It had to be done because if money had not been infused, the health of these banks would have deteriorated," he said.
"Generally, there is a misconception that people in the cooperative sector are involved in wrongful practices....there are irregularities in the cooperative sector but if you look at the overall percentage of irregularities, you will realize that the percentage of irregularities in the nationalised and scheduled banks is 92 per cent and the percentage of irregularities in the cooperative sector is hardly .43 per cent. Not even one per cent," Pawar claimed.
Cooperative banks safeguard the interest of the common people, he added.
"Therefore, the (Union government's) perspective towards cooperative sector banks should change.... if these banks face any kind of crisis, we should stand by these banks," he said.
Maharashtra, which leads in the number of cooperative banks and is followed by Gujarat and Karnataka, has a unique position in the cooperative movement in the country, Pawar noted.
In the past, the NCP chief had opposed amendments to the Banking Regulation Act which allowed the Reserve Bank of India to regulate cooperative banks.
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Sunrisers Hyderabad defeat Punjab Kings by four wickets in IPL
Hyderabad, May 19: Sunrisers Hyderabad crushed Punjab Kings by four wickets to end the league phase of the Indian Premier League with 17 points here on Sunday.
Chasing 215, SRH overhauled the target with five balls to spare after opener Abhishek Sharma hammered a 28-ball 66 (6x6s, 5x4s).
SRH were also bolstered by contributions from Rahul Tripathi (33), Nitish Reddy (37) and Heinrich Klaasen (42) along the way.
Earlier in the contest, Punjab Kings were helped by Prabhsimran Singh's quick fire 71 as well as useful contributions from opener Atharva Taide (46) and Rilee Rossouw (49) to post 214/5 on board.
Prabhsimran and Taide added 97 runs from just 55 balls. While Taide scored 46 from 27 balls with five fours and two sixes, Prabhsimran hit seven sixes and four fours for his 45-ball 71.
Rossouw signed off with a 24-ball 49 with four sixes and three fours while stand-in skipper Jitesh Sharma produced late fireworks to make 32 not out.
Brief scores:
Punjab Kings 214/5 in 20 overs (Atharva Taide 46, Prabhsimran Singh 71, Rilee Rossouw 49; T Natarajan 2/33).
Hyderabad 215/6 in 19.1 overs (Abhishek Sharma 66, Rahul Tripathi 33, Nitish Reddy 37, Heinrich Klaasen 42; Arshdeep Singh 2/37) by 4 wickets.
