The Cabinet has cleared a draft ordinance for amending the Kerala State Cooperative Societies Act to facilitate the merger of the Malappuram District Cooperate Bank with the Kerala Bank.
As per the draft ordinance, the Act would be amended again to merge the Malappuram Bank with the Kerala Bank.
This would be done in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India.
Even after the Assembly amending the Act in 2019 to do away with District Cooperative Banks, the director board of the Malappuram bank led by the United Democratic Front had refused to merge and decided to maintain the status quo.
Primary cooperative societies, urban cooperative banks in the district and employees of the bank had urged the government to initiate legal action to facilitate the merger.
Once the Act is amended and all 13 district banks become part of the new bank, the Malappuram bank alone will not be able to function as a separate entity. For, it will have to face issues such as the service of its employees, handling deposits and loans and also non-performing assets.
The Ordinance would expedite the merger and end the confusion over the issue, sources said.
