The state of Kerala is all set to get its own bank soon by merging district co-operative banks, which has been the objective of the state government for a while, as the High Court on Saturday dismissed a batch of petitions filed against it.
The state government plans to merge 13 District Cooperative Banks (DCB) with the Kerala State Cooperative Bank to form the aforementioned Kerala Bank. All of the DCBs in the state, except the one in Mallapuram district, had approved of the Left Front government's idea of the Kerala Bank. It is to be noted that the Mallapuram DCB is administered by the opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), who had claimed that the setting up of the bank would destroy the traditional cooperative sector. However, the government had claimed that the setting up of Kerala Bank would strengthen the cooperative sector. The High Court today decided that its intervention in the merger procedure was not needed, essentially clearing the way for the formation of the bank.
"I believe this indeed is a revolutionary step and will change the face of the banking sector in Kerala. Kerala Bank - as the name suggests, it is Kerala's own bank," Minister for Cooperation Kadakampally Surendran posted from his Twitter handle, adding that the setting up of the bank will be a huge step in development for the state.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, too, posted on Twitter, "Kerala's own Kerala Bank will commence soon. The High Court has dismissed all cases against the formation of the bank. The process of the legal merger of 13 District Co-operative Banks with the Kerala State Co-operative Bank has been initiated."
According to reports, the notice for the setting up of Kerala Bank was issued on Saturday evening and that the erstwhile administration for the district cooperative banks would come to an end soon.
Earlier, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) too had expressed its approval for the setting up of the Kerala Bank, asserting that it would be the largest banking network across the state.
