Government files application for final RBI nod

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: On Friday, state government submitted its application -along with a report on the fulfilment of 19 clauses - to RBI, through Nabard, to get its final nod for the proposed Kerala Bank.
Though the application for the proposed merger of district cooperative banks (DCBs) was submitted after leaving out Malappuram DCB (where the proposal failed to earn a simple majority), the government is hopeful of securing RBI nod. Cooperation department officials have cited precedence in the case of Jharkhand State Cooperative Bank where Dhanbad central cooperative bank (the district bank) opposed the creation of two-tier cooperative credit structure.

It was on October 3, 2018 that RBI gave its in-principle approval for Kerala Bank, while setting March 31, 2019 as the deadline to submit the final application. "All clauses, except the one on core banking system, have been complied with. And there is a guarantee to establish core banking system in time, for which procedures like IT training for employees are on," said an official.

The final application was submitted to a team of Nabard officials led by Kerala region chief general manager R Srinivasan by state cooperative bank MD E Devadas in the presence of minister for cooperation Kadakampally Surendran.

Before submission of application, Surendran met both RBI and Nabard officials. The chief secretary met the RBI governor and convinced him on the need for this particular bank, he said.

Both RBI and Nabard also did not oppose the amendment of the Kerala Cooperative Societies Act, 1969, changing the two-third majority required for amalgamation and transfer of assets and liabilities of district cooperative banks and societies to a simple majority, said an earlier statement issued by the minister's office.