By IANS,
Mumbai : The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) move to recommend supersession of the board of directors of the Maharashtra State Cooperative (MSC) Bank Saturday evoked mixed reactions from state politicians.
Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar expressed displeasure over the RBI move, saying it should have consulted the bank authorities before superseding the bank’s board of directors.
“The RBI should have discussed the issue with the bank board before taking any steps,” Pawar told reporters in Pune, some 160 km from here.
To a question, Pawar denied that there were any financial irregularities in the MSC Bank. His nephew and state Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is on the board of directors.
On the other hand, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan assured the peiople that strict action would be taken against anybody found guilty of irregularities in the bank.
The bank had been served several warnings before the action was initiated and the depositors need not worry about their deposits with the bank, Chavan said Saturday afternoon in Satara, some 250 km from here.
He said that the bank’s position would improve after the new developments and dismissed contentions that there was politics behind the move to supersede the board.
Swabhimani Paksha MP from Hatkanangle in Kolhapur Raju Shetti welcomed the RBI move to supersede the bank board.
Shetty alleged that the bank was exploited by various political parties to further their own interests over the past many years.
Despite many complaints about the irregularities plaguing the bank, the state government failed to take any action, he said.
“The government should probe the bank’s affairs and bring out a white paper on its finances. Those found guilty should be put behind bars,” Shetti demanded.
The MSC Bank’s board comprises leaders and legislators from different parties including Ajit Pawar, Diliprao Deshmukh, Anandrao Adsul, Diliprao Sopal, Minakshi Patil, Rajni A. Patil, Pandurang Phundkar, Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil, Rajan Telli, Vijay N. Vadettiwar, Yashwantrao Gadakh and others.