Rajasthan CM asks PM to withdraw amendments in the Banking Regulation Act

Jaipur: In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot expressed his opposition to the amendments made in the provisions of the Banking Regulation (BR) Act. He also urged the PM to reconsider the amendments which gives sole authority to Reserve Bank of India to control and make schemes for the cooperative Banks.

Last month, Lok Sabha passed the Banking Regulation Amendment Bill, 2020 to bring the cooperative banks under the supervision of the Reserve Bank of India. The central government amended the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 to put an end to the irregularities concerning the cooperative banks. "For the last two years, depositors of cooperative banks and small banks are facing problems. We are trying to bring this amendment in order to protect the depositors," finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said in the Lok Sabha.

In a series of tweets, Gehlot talked about the situation in Rajasthan and his concern about the effects of this new regime as it comes into effect. "A large number of common people have invested in Multi State Cooperative Societies. In Rajasthan, we have received complaints from around 73 thousand investors regarding irregularities amounting to 1419.77 crore Rupees", he tweeted.

He said that Central Government has recently amended provisions of Banking Regulation Act, which are against basic principles of cooperatives and would have a negative impact on functioning of State Cooperative Banks. He described new provisions as an "encroachment on the principle of cooperatives". He also urged PM to restore the previous structure in the interest of cooperatives.

"Under amended provisions, the principle of one member one vote does not hold any longer. The previous structure and provisions must be restored in the interest of cooperatives", his another tweet reads.