New building of Kaggalipura bank opened

BANGALORE: Home and Transport Minister R Ashok inaugurated the new building of Kaggalipura Agriculture Cooperative Bank at Kaggalipura on Friday.Speaking on the occasion, the minister told the cooperative banks not to depend on assistance from the government."National banks mainly give loans for business or industrialists in urban areas and they can't reach more people. In the rural areas, cooperative banks should work for development of farmers and betterment of their life and agriculture. I wish more cooperative banks to come up in rural areas. All self help groups should work together and win the trust of people for the agriculture development. The government is giving more importance to agriculture in the state, I wish all the farmers to get benefit from this," he noted.Addressing the farmers and villagers of Kaggalipura, the Karnataka Housing Board Chairman G T Devegowda said, "Wherever there are cooperative banks those places are developed. The cooperative banks are active in the rural areas. Since the banks the banks' officials will be localites, they know the people better and giving loans will be easier."Founder of the Art of Living Foundation Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said: "There are 30,000 people in the village. Only 4,000 have people taken the membership of the cooperative society. I wish by the end of this year it should have a minimum of 10,000 members." Kaggalipura Agriculture Cooperative bank is a branch of Ravugodlu Agriculture Cooperative Association which has a turnover of Rs 52 crore annually.President of the bank, staff members and villagers were present.