(FE)
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in Mumbai on Thursday that the government will set up a group of secretaries (GoS) under the ministry of finance to study the shortcomings of the Multi-State-Cooperatives, which run banks such as Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank. The idea is to amend specific Cooperative Acts in the winter session of the Parliament in December to prevent repetition of PMC like events in future.
“The two secretaries of the department of economic affairs and the ministry of banking have been asked to work with rural development and urban development minsitries to study in detail the shortcomings, and if necessary to look at possible ways to amend the respective Cooperative Act,” Sitharaman said.
“The group which will be looking into this issue will be chaired by two secretaries of the ministry of finance and one deputy governor-level RBI official with an objective to curb malpractices in future and empower the regulator better,” the minister said.