Nashik co-op bank administrator transferred, minister cites laxity in recovery of dues

NASHIK: The state cooperation department on Tuesday transferred the administrator of the cash-strapped Nashik District Central Cooperative (NDCC) Bank, Arun Kadam, and named Pratapsingh Chavan, retired assistant manager of Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank, as his replacement.
The state cooperation minister, Atul Save, told TOI that Kadam was transferred due to alleged "laxity" on his part in proper recovery of dues."The officer is very good, but he could not carry out the recovery as expected. It is the only thing that could save the bank from losing its banking licence from the Reserve Bank of India," Save said.
Kadam was not available for comments on the issue, but insiders of the cooperative bank said a large section of farmers and politicians, who had borrowed money from the bank "were unhappy" over the way he was on a recovery spree during his tenure from November 2021.
Several of farmers had rallied behind Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana chief Raju Shetti in Malegaon in January and marched to the house of district guardian minister Dada Bhuse, demanding softening of recovery by the bank. Bhuse had then claimed that he had a talk with the cooperative minister and the latter had assured that the bank would soften its stand and even charge simple interest on outstanding instead of the current practice.
Sanghatana had set February deadline for softening the bank's stand. Else, they had threatened to agitate outside the house of chief minister.
Besides, when Save visited Nashik district, some of the elected representatives - who are defaulters - met him seeking reprieve from the recovery drive. But Save on Tuesday denied that there was any pressure from any quarters for Kadam's transfer.
Kadam had made public taluka- and district-wise names of big defaulters in marketplaces, bus stands and other public places to create pressure on them. When he had taken charge of the office, the outstanding with the defaulters was Rs1,900 crore. It has dropped to Rs1,450 crore now. The net NPA (non-performing assets) dropped from about 52% to less than 32% during the period.
A bank officer said Kadam might have been transferred considering the forthcoming elections - from Zilla Parishad to Parliament. "The system was just being strengthened when the transfer was announced," he added.