NCP seeks MSCB revival at panel meet

The demand was made on Friday night at the Congress-NCP co-ordination committee meeting attended by senior leaders from both parties including Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan,Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar,Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Manikrao Thakre,his NCP counterpart Madhukarrao Pichad and Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC) chief Kripashanker Singh.

A leader present at the meeting said issues relating to the state,including the dissolution of MSCB,which is the apex bank in the state co-operative sector,were discussed.

He also said they had sought that the bank be revived as it played an important role in the agriculture economy and the co-operative sector and with the sowing season due soon,it was essential to ensure credit flows to the farmers without playing politics over the bank.

The NCP-controlled MSCB had been superseded by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI),which in turn had enraged the NCP that had attributed political motives of the Congress to the decision in the run up to the coming local body polls in the state,with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar even alleging that this was a conspiracy hatched in New Delhi against the NCP and him.

It is also learnt that the issue over having multi-member wards in the local self government bodies was also taken up for discussion and another meeting in this regard is due on Monday.