THE GOAN NETWORK
MAPUSA
The election to pick a new Board of Directors of the Mapusa Urban Coop Bank (MUCB) has been fixed on March 23.
Putting the election process in motion, MUCB Chairman Gurudas Natekar has appointed Raghunath M Dessai as the Returning Officer.
“The Central Registrar had directed the present board to conduct the election process to elect a new board. Accordingly, I have fixed the date and appointed the Returning Officer,” said Gurudas Natekar.
The chairman informed that as per the registrar’s directions, he will hold charge of the bank’s affairs until a new board was in place.
“Once a new board of directors is elected, I will hand over the charge,” he said.
In the meanwhile, the MUCB has moved a proposal to the Reserve Bank of India to obtain financial approval for expenses to conduct elections of the bank.
It may be recalled the election to the last board of directors was held on July 12, 2015.
The board of directors comprised 11 members, with two posts reserved for women and one each for Scheduled Tribe and Schedule Caste.
The bank’s outgoing board comprised the following members: Gurudas Natekar (chairman), Ashwin Khalap, Babuso Adfadkar, Mangaldas Naik, Michael Carrasco, Nirmala Khalap, Pradhnya Naik, Ramakant Khalap, Ramesh Pankar, Tulio de Souza and Shambu Bhau Bandekar.
It may be recalled soon after the election of BoDs, the Reserve Bank of India had issued an embargo on the bank in July 24, 2015 severely crippling its banking activities.
The MUCB management had then approached the Bombay High Court in Goa and got some relief, but the bank could never come out of the financial crunch due to the curbs.
Coming under severe financial stress, the chairman in a letter to Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had admitted that they were unable to run the bank and asked the government to take over the management.
Failing to get any response from the government, the bank’s chairman Gurudas Natekar and his board of directors resigned on September 4, 2018.
The Central Registrar, however, directed Natekar to continue to hold the reins of the bank until elections for the new board was held.
