Goa State Cooperative Bank’s financial woes turn AGM stormy

PANAJI: Heavy losses, poor share capital, a delayed bifurcation and work force issues provided sufficient ammunition to create a stormy 53rd annual general body meeting for Goa State Cooperative Bank.
Fed up with the bank's dismal performance and with threat of penalties, the board of directors turned their ire on the chairman and slammed the functioning of the bank.
The meeting, which was held on Sunday, was called to approve the audited balance sheet of the bank for 2015-16. The directors took the opportunity to corner the bank's chairman Ulhas Phal Dessai and managing director Suresh Lotlikar to see if there was a strategy in place to return the apex cooperative bank to profit-making ways.
"The bank has to do business. How can there be repeated losses? The board itself is a divided house. How can the bank function if the board and workers are not happy?" asked vice chairman Avelino Marcos Sebastiao D'Silva.
The directors also sought to know the status of the bank's proposed bifurcation. Reserve Bank of India had given the bank a deadline of April 1, to complete bifurcation of banking operations and hand over assets to the new Daman and Diu Cooperative Bank, but Goa State Co-Op Bank failed to meet the deadline and the date was subsequently fixed for June 30, which wasn't adhered to either.
"The bifurcation process is on. One of the criteria is financial support from the state government and we have been told the (negotiation) process is on with the government," Dessai said.
Sources within the bank said several board members were unhappy with managing director Lotlikar's style of functioning. Lotlikar's decision to summarily transfer 100 staff members on an immediate basis also irked some board members.
A board member on condition of anonymity stated if the bank's financial strength did not improve rapidly, it could stand to lose its banking license.