the goan I network
MARGAO
Fighting for survival with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) tightening its screws on the bank, shareholders of the Madgaum Urban Cooperative Bank on Sunday gave a stamp of approval for the sale of bank premises of the Margao and Panaji branches to mop up revenue and save the bank under the bank revival plan.
At the stormy Annual General body (AGM) meeting held here on Sunday, a nod was also given to work out Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) for the bank employees to cut down the lossess.
Share holders further demanded to shut down some of the branches to reduce the losses and transfer the staff to the head office.
Bank Chairman Kishore Narvekar said the bank has no option than to initiate the measures, including steps to sell off the bank office space, under the revival plan.
Narvekar pointed out that the Bank has knocked the doors of the Goa government to bail out the bank with a proposal, exuding confidence that the occasion will not come to dispose of the property if the government accepts the bank’s bail out proposal.
The Madgaum Urban Cooperative Bank has been fighting for survival with the RBI tightening the screws by barring the bank from advancing loans and over draft facility and to return investments in fixed deposits only at the time of maturity.
Bank Director Atul Verlekar told the media after the stormy meeting that the Bank is taking all steps to ensure that the bank is back on the right track after implementing the revival plan.
“We are fighting for survival. There were some shareholders who questioned the proposal to sell off the office premises of the bank at Margao and Panaji. We have to take these decisions before the time is up”, Verlekar said, adding that the decision to sell off the branch office space will be given effect only if the government’s promised bail out package does not materialise.
Verlekar told the shareholders that the Bank will fight till the last for survival, drawing attention of the members to the proposal for merger of the bank as a last resort.
Verlekar said the meeting also considered a proposal to write off the principal amount of Rs 7.64 crore form the books in respect of the nine chronic NPA accounts, considered bad for recovery.
The meeting also discussed the issue of overvaluation of assets mortgaged with the bank at the time of issuing loans, with members cautioning the Board of Directors (BoD) to take precautions in the future to ensure that the assets are valued properly.
