MARGAO
Beleaguered depositors of the Curtorim branch of Madgaum Urban Cooperative Bank (MUCB) on Thursday made a fervent plea to the banking authorities, including the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to ease restrictions on the bank and permit them to withdraw their hard earned deposits.
At a meeting of the depositors held at Curtorim, it was decided to explore all options to get the depositors back, including taking legal recourse by knocking the doors of the High Court for early return of their deposits.
The depositors meeting comes 10 days after the RBI extended the restrictions on the MUCB by a further period of three months, leaving the depositors in the lurch as they cannot withdraw their money from the bank.
The meeting condemned the absence of the bank management and the elected directors, demanding that the bank Board of Directors ought to have stood behind the depositors in this hour of crisis affecting small time depositors.
A shareholder from Curtorim, Dinisio Sardinha said he is ready to take the cause of the depositors’ right up to the Supreme Court. “It is high time the matter is taken to the courts to seek justice for the poor depositors. We have decided to explore all options including moving the High Court first and then the Supreme Court to seek justice for the depositors,” Sardinha said.
He said the depositors were expecting the RBI to lift the restrictions imposed on the MUCB since last year, but lamented that the Apex Bank has further extended the restrictions by another three months. “The small time depositors are in big time trouble. They have their deposits in the bank, but cannot withdraw beyond the ceiling capped by the RBI. This cannot go on forever. We have to take some action,” he said, demanding early lifting of the RBI restrictions on the bank.
Addressing the depositors, Curtorim MLA Reginaldo Lourenco said he will try to get a meeting fixed with the RBI general manager to seek the status of MUCB, whether the bank has any future or is heading towards liquidation. “The poor depositors are demanding justice from the government and the banking institutions. No one, including the Registrar of Cooperative Societies is taking any interest in the matter,” he lamented, while offering
his full support to any initiative to take the matter to the High Court.
Outgoing Curtorim ZP member Moreno Rebello said the MUCB and the RBI seemed only buying time without making any efforts to resolve the issue affecting the depositors. “The MUCB Curtorim branch was patronised by the daily wage earners, including the vegetable vendors because the branch was open on Sundays. The MUCB has let down the poor farmers and the common man,” Moreno added.
Curtorim Deputy Sarpanch Simon Barretto said lakhs of rupees of the Curtorim comunidade is blocked in the MUCB due to the RBI’s restrictions on the bank. “The MUCB and the RBI should immediately take a decision and allow the depositors to withdraw their money,” he demanded.
President of local tenants association, Milagres Menezes said one of the association’s money amounting to Rs 6.50 lakh is presently blocked in the MUCB due to the RBI restrictions. “We cannot utilise the money for the benefit of the farmers because of the restrictions,” Milagres said, while demanding that the RBI lift the curbs on the MUCB at the earliest.
