Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the growth journey of the cooperative banking sector in the State began four years ago after the government implemented the recommendations of NABARD Consultancy Services (NABCONS).
Participating in the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Andhra Pradesh State Cooperative Bank (APCOB) here on Friday, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said that APCOB has seen several ups and downs in its 60-year history and has now grown to the stage of handholding farmers and contributing to their economic prosperity and strengthening the rural economy.
Following NABCONS recommendations, the government amended the 1964 Act to strengthen the cooperative banking governance and appointed professionals to run APCOB and the district cooperative central banks (DCCBs) through a uniform selection process besides funnelling ₹295 crore as share capital for DCCBs, he said.
YSR’s contribution
He recalled that the former Chief Minister of combined Andhra Pradesh Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy played a key role in strengthening the cooperative credit system by infusing ₹1,850 crore capital into the bank and ₹217 crore to DCCBs in 2008 following the recommendations of the Vaidyanathan Committee. APCOB faced many challenges and was pushed into doldrums in subsequent years. It improved its performance soon after the YSRCP came to power in 2019. The efficiency and transparency has improved sharply, he said.
In the last four years, the net worth of the DCCBs and APCOB has gone up to ₹1.05 lakh crore and ₹36,700 crore from ₹53,249 crore and ₹13,700 crore respectively. Digitalization, computerisation and professional administration was introduced, which helped in improving the efficiency. Except for Eluru, all other DCCBs are now running in profits, he said, adding it is a matter of pleasure that Kurnool and Kadapa DCCBs have made profits after 36 and 28 years respectively.
After the government has introduced farm mechanisation with the support of RBKs, APCOB has so far sanctioned ₹500 crore worth of loans. For the first time in the country, all PACs (Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies), DCCBs, and APCOB were linked to RBKs to extend more efficient and transparent credit services to farmers and women’s self-help groups. The rural economy will get a boost resulting in more prosperity for the farming community and women’s groups. Village economy will witness further changes in the future with more agricultural inputs being made available at the RBKs, he said.
Dividend
Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy unveiled APCOB’s new logo and Brand Identity Guidelines (BIG) book. He released a dividend cheque for ₹55.93 crore, which is a first in the history of the bank. He also gave away awards to the CEOs and other officials of Krishna, Srikakulam, Nellore and Kurnool DCCBs for exemplary performance.
Agriculture and Cooperation Minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy, Housing Minister Jogi Ramesh, APCOB chairman Mallela Jhansi, Managing Director Shreenath Reddy, Principal Secretary (Agriculture and Cooperation) Chiranjeevi Choudhary, Commissioner, Cooperation, Babu A and others were present.
