MARGAO
The angry shareholders and depositors of Madgaum Urban Cooperative Bank (MUCB) on Saturday forced an adjournment of the annual general body meeting, as they demanded that the Bank management place the list of defaulters with outstanding loans of Rs 10 lakh and above and names of directors responsible for the sorry state of the bank.
The management tried in vain to bring down the frayed tempers by announcing that the bank has written to the Union Finance Ministry to merge MUCB with the Goa State Cooperative Bank. The shareholders pointed out that similar proposals had come a cropper in the past.
The adjourned meeting will now be held on January 10 after Bank's chairman Kishore Narvekar met the demands of the beleaguered shareholders and depositors to compile a list of the defaulters.
Agitated members, demanding the return of their hard earned deposits, were in no mood to allow the Chair to complete the agenda, as they accused the management of being only interested in completing the ritual of holding the annual general body meeting. Shareholder after shareholder stood up to ask one pointed question to the Chair and the Directors --- when will they all receive their hard earned money deposited in the MUCB with the Reserve Bank of India repeatedly extending the withdrawal and other restrictions imposed on the bank since last year.
They warned the MUCB management that time was running out for the Board to work out a solution, saying the bank’s losses are on the rise, which may affect the shareholders in getting their deposits back in the event the bank goes into liquidation.
Curtorim-based shareholder Dionisio Sardinha demanded that the Bank make public the names of defaulters and the Board of Directors, who had sanctioned the loan amount. Shareholders Sriram Raiturkar, Chandan Nayak, Simon Caido, Dr Ashish Kamat and others raised a similar demand, saying the Bank should not transact any further business at the meeting unless the names of defaulters are made available.
Raiturkar said the Bank should provide the list of defaulters, the date on which loan was sanctioned and the name of chairman then, names of sureties and collateral securities, current outstanding balance.
After much discussion, the Chairman agreed to make available the details by January 2, a week before the adjourned meeting fixed on January 10.
The shareholders also demanded to know the presence of only four Directors, Chairman Kishore Narvekar, Rupesh Mahatme, Atul Verlekar and Amresh Naik, saying the absence of majority of directors only goes to prove the lack of seriousness by the Board to resolve issues plaguing the bank. They accused the directors of enjoying at the expense of the depositors.
Dionisio Sardinha also raised the issue of NRI depositors not being extended the facility to operate the bank lockers with Power of Attorney. MUCB Managing Director Kishore Amonkar, however, said the depositors will be allowed to operate the lockers with Power of Attorney duly attested at the embassy.
President of Curtorim Tenants Association Milagres Menezes said farmers' money has got blocked in the MUCB Curtorim bank, saying it has affected farming operations in the village.
Addressing the shareholders, Bank Chairman Kishore Narvekar said the Bank has recovered around Rs 20 crore out of the Rs 80 crore outstanding arrears, adding that the recoveries have not stopped.
