Nagaland State Co-Operative Bank Ltd (NStCB) held its 55th annual general meeting at NStCB conference hall head office, Dimapur here on Friday.
NStCB Managing Director Abhijit Kumar Deb, while highlighting the bank’s performance and initiatives taken during the financial year 2023-24 said it has reached the remarkable milestone of 56 years, marked by significant achievement of being able to declare dividend to shareholders of the bank after a span of 26 years of post-implementation of Prudential norms of RBI in Rural Cooperative Banks.
Some of the important Bank’s performance during the Year 2023-24 were the business mix of the Bank registered a growth of 7.95%, CD ratio of the Bank increased by 1.16%, Net Profit of the Bank grew by 235.85%, Gross NPAs of the Bank reduced by 1.74% as compared to last year, the net NPAs of the Bank declined by 2.70% and Provision coverage ratio (PCR) stood at 75.81% as against 63.00% of last year, Statutory Auditor has accorded B+ audit rating to the bank with 72.60 marks under CAMELSC parameters approach.
Under Developmental Action Plan the Share Capital of the Bank including Reserves & Surplus, Balance of Profit and Total Owned Fund was projected to increase by 6.75% from Rs. 11568.28 lakh as on 31st March 2024 to Rs. 12350.00 lakh during the FY 2024-2025, bank’s authorized share capital is Rs. 200.00 Crore.
At the end of the year 2023- 24, Bank’s paid-up capital has increased by Rs. 0.18 crore and reached Rs. 69.89 crore with increase in Coop, total deposits of the bank from Rs. 1049.09 crore in the previous FY 2022-23 increased to Rs. 1124.49 Cr in FY 2023-24 recording a growth of Rs. 75.40 Cr.
Registrar of cooperative societies/Addl. RCS, Nagaland Alangla Thonger, in her address acknowledged the challenges faced by the bank, notably the Non-Performing Asset (NPA) issue, which has hindered the bank’s progress. She emphasized the importance of trust and integrity among bankers, urging the Board of Directors (BOD) and the NSCB management to collaborate and work toward solutions for the betterment of the institution.
The issue of NPAs remains a major concern, with the majority of the bank’s loans in Nagaland affected by poor recovery, she pointed out that over 90% of the NSCB’s employees were native to Nagaland, and leveraging local connections could help address these issues, especially with the backing of the State Government, NABARD, and the local community.
She also encouraged to focus on identify and supporting emerging business talent across Nagaland’s districts, providing them with the necessary support to grow their businesses and taking bold initiatives to support young entrepreneurs.
GM (OIC), NABARD, RO Nagaland P. Bulte focusing on the role of cooperation in the banking sector urged cooperation among all stakeholders, particularly emphasizing the need for banks to integrate modern systems and actively support government initiatives.
He discussed the key challenges including the need for banks to adopt the free software solutions provided for better daily transactions and system integration, with a call for active participation from all staff and also highlighted the government’s emphasis on cooperation, urging banks to embrace digitalization and assist in ongoing development efforts.
With the government’s focus on cooperative initiatives and digitization, stakeholders were reminded of the necessity to work together in meeting set targets, such as creating 70,000 multi-purpose banks across India, of which Nagaland has been allocated 1,256.
The official concluded by encouraging banks to make use of available support systems and further urged cooperation for the successful completion of ongoing projects and digital initiatives.
NStCB Ltd vice-chairman H. Kahito Yepthomi, while delivering the chairman’s remark emphasized the need to reduce Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) in order to launch mobile banking services. He urged all branch managers to contribute to NPA reduction for greater benefits.
Additionally, the distribution of dividends to societies was mentioned, with hopes that more societies would qualify in the coming year. The vice chairman, serving as chairman for a fourth time, expressed desire for continued collaboration and engagement from cooperative members in future meetings.
During the programme, several awards were presented under different categories, in PACS (Best advocacy in credit discipline) Thenumia Kehou MPCS Ltd, Agri colony MPCS Ltd and Dibuia village MPCS Ltd were awarded 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively.
In community based relationship banking, Chakhesang Baptist church, Diphupar, Eleutheros Christian society Tuensang and Kilo OLD VDB were awarded 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively.
In SHG & JLG, Asset joint liability group and Hibo self-help group were awarded 1st and 2nd respectively. In best performance under DAP, Kohima main branch, High school joint branch Kohima and Tseminyu branch were awarded 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Short speeches were also delivered by elected board of members and delegates.
Earlier, the program was chaired by vice chairman NStCB Ltd. H. Kashito Yepthomi, invocation by senior pastor, Chakhesang Baptist church, Diphupar Rev. Dr. Vezopa Tetseo, BOD Nungsang Aier welcomed the gatherings, presentation of awards by chairman (assisted by GM Admin & Vig) and vote of thanks by GM (Accts/MIS/IT) Pankaj Bhattacharjee.