Those sitting in Delhi will not understand the problems of common people

Kerala is really “Gods own country” as not only is it picturesque, but is also the most literate state, where its rural population is supported by numerous service cooperative banks. This state has now emerged as the strongest opposition to the BJP’s demonetization.

The cooperative banks have been providing credit for farmers since 1950, much before commercial banks came to this state. With a customer base of more than two million, the three-tier banking system is one of the largest in the country. It has 20 state co-operative banks, 784 district co-operative banks and 1,611 primary co-operative banks under its umbrella. The primary banks have more than 2,500 branches. The state and district banks follow the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s guidelines, while the primary banks come under the district banks and follow the directives of the Registrar of cooperative societies. Primary cooperative banks deposit money with the RBI-monitored district banks.

Kerala finance minister, TM Thomas Issac, described co-operative banks as the lifeline of Kerala’s economy. “The financial institution has Rs 90,000 crore in deposits and Rs 75,000 crore in credits. The deposit-credit ratio is 80%, much higher than Kerala’s largest nationalised bank, State Bank of Travancore, which is at just 52.6%. The figures speak volumes about the importance of co-operative banks.”

The back bone of the rural economy

These Cooperative banks were kept out of the Governments demonetization move, while all the private banks like ICICI, HDFC, Axis and Standard Chartered were included. The move seems to be calculated to hit the opposition as the BJP’s argument is that these banks have black money stashed in them by the CPI and Congress leaders. It must also be remembered here that Kerala has the maximum work force in UAE and other Middle East countries and has a considerably wealthy middle class.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan accused the Union government and Reserve Bank of India of “trying to strangulate” the financial institutions and said, “We will strongly oppose such moves.” He challenged the government to investigate and prove any income tax evasions

But who is suffering the brunt of this exercise? All this only reveals how distant and careless the rulers in Delhi are to the reality of the common people.