Sit-in against Centre's move to bring co-op banks under RBI

Kolkata: Representatives of Co-operatives held a state-wide sit-in demonstration protesting against the Ordinance that was amended

"unilaterally" by the Centre to bring urban co-operative banks and multi-state co-operative banks under the supervisory power of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The sit-in demonstration took place on Friday in districts including Burdwan, Nadia, North and South 24-Parganas and East and West Midnapore.

Leader of co-operative movement of the state Trinamool Congress Asis Chakraborty, who is also the chairman of the Housefed, said: "The states usually have a registrar of cooperatives who exercises control over the incorporation, registration, management, recovery, audit, selection of board of directors and removal of co-operatives. Due to the Ordinance, the RBI will take over the power to merge or liquidate the co-operative banks from the state registrar of cooperatives in the near future. The power of state control over the cooperatives will pass into the hands of the Central government. And this is a clear conspiracy of the Centre by challenging the power of state government adversely affecting the federal structure of the country." On June 30, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting to withdraw the Ordinance.