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{{update|date=January 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2015}}
{{POV|date=July 2012}}
'''Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank''' (Pratibha Women Cooperative Bank) was a cooperative bank based in [[Jalgaon]], [[Maharashtra]], India. It was founded in 1973 by [[Pratibha Patil]], who later became [[President of India]], with the objective of empowering women.

Patil was a [[chairperson]] of the bank and also one of its directors, along with many of her relatives.<ref name="kidwai" /> She is one of 34 respondents in an ongoing case before the [[Aurangabad, Maharashtra|Aurangabad]] bench of the [[Bombay High Court]] regarding alleged mismanagement of the bank and misappropriation of funds.<ref>{{cite news |work=Frontline |title=Rough ride |first=Venkitesh |last=Ramakrishnan |date=13 July 2007 |url=http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl2413/stories/20070713005213300.htm |accessdate=2016-01-13}}</ref>

The [[Reserve Bank of India]] (RBI) revoked the licence of the bank in 2003 after it was found out that the bank had engaged in various irregularities, including illegally waiving interest on loans given to many of Patil's family members.

== Inquiries and closure ==
The bank was declared "weak" by the RBI in 1995.<ref>Sarin, Ritu (24 June 2007). [http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/pratibha-bank-waived-loans-for-kin-before-rbi-shut-it-down--------/160431/0 "Pratibha bank waived loans for kin before RBI shut it down"]. ''[[The Indian Express]]''. Retrieved 12 January 2016.</ref> An inquiry under the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act was ordered in July 2001 and reported that the bank had incurred losses of Rs 1.35 [[crore]]. This led to the resignations of the chairperson and eight directors.{{cn|date=January 2016}} In April 2002, the [[Ministry of Finance (India)|Ministry of Finance]] asked the RBI to inquire into allegations of fund irregularities after receiving a number of complaints from the Cooperative Bank Employees Union and small depositors of the bank.{{cn|date=January 2016}}

In February 2003, the RBI revoked the bank's licence due to concerns relating to serious financial irregularities. Among other points, the RBI noted that the bank's loan policy was suspect and that members of Patil's family, including brothers and nephews, had received favourable treatment regarding loans. Allegations listed by the RBI include a faulty loan policy of the bank and loan interest waivers given to Patil's relatives. It said that there was no-one on the board with knowledge of either management generally or banking in particular.<ref>{{cite news |title=More skeletons in Patil's closet |date=25 June 2007 |url=http://www.ibnlive.com/news/politics/pratibha-rbi-268079.html |work=Ibnlive.com |accessdate=2016-01-13}}</ref> The RBI determined that six of the ten largest loan defaulters were connected to Patil's family,<ref name="ie">{{cite news |last=Kulkarni |first=Dhaval |date=29 June 2007 |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/story/203367.html |title=Tai may become President, what about us who have been cheated? |work=The Indian Express |accessdate=2016-01-12}}</ref> that the paid-up [[share capital]] was negative and that its gross [[non-performing asset]]s amounted to Rs 391.20 lakh.<ref name="indiatoday" />

== Post-closure events ==
Many depositors who had been attracted to the bank because of the involvement of Patil lost much of their savings, although the first Rs 1 [[lakh]] of their funds was protected by [[deposit insurance]]. At the time of Patil's nomination for the office of President of India, some of these people, who had still not received the balance of their deposits, alleged that the bank had become a "family fiefdom". Patil's spokespeople said that she had had no involvement in the granting of loans during her period as chairperson.<ref name="ie" /> They said that she had been chairperson for only slightly over a month and that the RBI report made no mention of her.<ref name="kidwai">{{cite book |title=Sonia: A Biography |first=Rasheed |last=Kidwai |edition=Revised |publisher=Penguin Books India |year=2011 |page=169 |isbn=978-0-14341-686-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2CobDtBQVGgC&lpg=PA169 |accessdate=2016-01-13}}</ref>

A High Court writ petition, filed by the banks' depositors and former employees in 2007 at the time of Patil's nomination for president, alleged that the bank collected Rs 4,556 from its employees' wages for victims of the [[Kargil War]] but failed to deposit the amount in the national fund. Other claims included that Patil's brother, Dilip, had misused the bank's telephone service and the bank ignored its remit of primarily loaning to women in order to provide loans for Patils's male relatives. Spokespeople from Patil's political party, the [[Indian National Congress]], denied any involvement by her in these matters, saying that the bank operated satisfactorily until 1993.<ref>{{cite news |work=The Hindu |date=3 July 2007 |url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/pil-against-pratibha-candidature/article1865742.ece |title=PIL against Pratibha candidature |accessdate=2016-01-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |work=Ibnlive.com |title=Pratibha's kin default on loans |date=28 June 2007 |url=http://in.news.yahoo.com/070627/211/6hgap.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630084606/http://in.news.yahoo.com/070627/211/6hgap.html |archivedate=30 June 2007 |accessdate=2016-01-13}}</ref> Some local INC members in Jalgaon, however, disagreed with the official line, as did the employees' union. They claimed that Patil had facilitated unsecured loans to her family and arranged waivers of interest despite the poor financial state of the bank after 1995. In total, they said, the familial loans that were defaulted amounted to nearly Rs. 225 lakh.<ref name="indiatoday">{{cite news |title=Embarrassing Choice |first1=Prerana |last1=Thakurdesai |first2=Priya |last2=Sahgal |date=9 July 2007 |url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/patil-the-outstanding-choice-for-presidentship/1/155553.html |work=India Today |accessdate=2016-01-13}}</ref>

In 2011, Rajesh Chakrabarti, a faculty member at the [[Indian School of Business]], wrote that the irregularities at Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank, along with some other notable problems among [[Urban Co-operative Bank]]s (UCBs), "contributed significantly in eroding the brand value of UCBs" in the early 2000s.<ref>{{cite news |first=Rajesh |last=Chakrabarti |work=Forbes India |url=http://forbesindia.com/printcontent/28382 |date=13 September 2011 |title=The Role of Urban Cooperative Banks in Financial Inclusion |accessdate=2016-01-13}}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Women in cooperatives]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.indianexpress.com/story/202794.html]
*{{cite news |url=http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEM20070627203526&Title=Main+Article&rLink=-498 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012221133/http://newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEM20070627203526&Title=Main+Article&rLink=-498 |archivedate=2007-10-12 |first=Arun |last=Shourie |authorlink=Arun Shourie |work=The New Indian Express |date=28 June 2007 |title=Lifting the veil over Pratibha Patil}}

[[Category:Pratibha Patil]]
[[Category:Defunct banks of India]]
[[Category:Banks established in 1973]]
[[Category:Banks disestablished in 2003]]
[[Category:Cooperative banks of India]]
[[Category:Corruption in India]]
[[Category:Indian companies established in 1973]]
[[Category:Indian companies disestablished in 2003]]

Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank - Revision history

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