INFO SOURCE
Furnished by the National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to Mumbai-based RTI activist Manoranjan S Roy
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DEPOSITOR SUSPENSE
No details as to total number of depositor accounts in which Rs 344.62 crore of deposits were distributed
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HEAD OF BANK THEN
* Ulhas Phaldesai as chairman during the demonetization period
* He is the brother of former Sanguem MLA Subhash Phaldesai
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PRESENT STATUS
* Ulhas Phaldesai no longer serves as a director of the bank
* The BoD has been dissolved and a committee of administrators manages the bank
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PANAJI: A whopping Rs 344.62 crore of demonetised currency notes were deposited in Goa through the Goa State Co-operative Bank Ltd (GSCBL) during the demonetisation period between November 9 and December 30 of 2016.
GSCBL is the apex co-operative bank in Goa and ranks second only to the Himachal Pradesh State Co-operative Bank Ltd among apex co-operative banks of 11 small States in terms of value of demonetized currency deposits during the demonetization period in 2016.
Even in the case of Assam, which is much bigger geographically as well as in terms of population than Goa, account holders of the apex co-operative bank there deposited Rs 301-odd crores of demonetised currency.
This information about the deposits in GSCBL during the November 9 and December 31 demonetization period of 2016, was furnished by the National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to Mumbai-based RTI activist Manoranjan S Roy.
The Goan got in touch with Roy who sifted through the voluminous information he secured from NABARD and readily shared the Goa specific material. Roy also shared information pertaining to co-operative banks of 10 other small States.
There are however no details as to the total number of depositor accounts of the GSCBL in which these Rs 344.62-crores of deposits were distributed. Bank officials said the current management is not privy to any of the transactions pertaining to the demonetization period. Only NABARD and the Reserve Bank of India are the custodians of the information, he officials added.
No sooner the information Roy secured hit the news, the issue snowballed into a major political controversy nationally. The Congress latched on to the issue and alleged that banks linked to BJP leaders, including its national president Amit Shah, had got the highest deposits of demonetized currency notes.
The Opposition party also alleged that the BJP had used demonetization to convert massive amounts of black money hoarded by its members and termed the exercise, which caused chaos in the economy and burdened the country's population as the biggest scam in the history of Independent India.
Interestingly, the GSCBL in Goa was headed during the demonetization period by Ulhas Phaldesai as chairman. He is the brother of former Sanguem legislator, Subhash Phaldesai of the BJP which governed Goa at the time.
Phaldesai no longer serves as a director of the bank. The BoD has been dissolved and the State government has appointed a committee of administrators headed by Chartered Accountant Prabhu Verlekar to manage the bank.
