Jana Sena Party (JSP) leader Kona Tata Rao on Monday (May 2) assumed charge as Chairman of the District Cooperative Central Bank (DCCB) here. Elected representatives of the JSP, TDP and BJP, party leaders and his well-wishers felicitated him.

“I will strive to develop the bank and safeguard the interests of farmers, for whose credit needs the bank was primarily established, without giving any scope for political interference in its day-to-day functioning,” he told media persons after taking charge. Referring to the commitment of the coalition government for the welfare of farmers, he said the bank would strive to achieve the targets set by the government to extend loans to farmers in the plain areas for kharif, rabi and also loans to tribal farmers in Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) district.

“The bank has made a net profit of ₹202 crore last year (as on March 31). With an NPA rate of 4.2, DCCB, Visakhapatnam, is the only one in the 13 [erstwhile] districts of AP to be categorised as ‘Grade A’ bank. I want to bring down the NPA rate further apart from securing more funds from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and A.P. State Cooperative Bank (APCOB),” he said.

DCCB-Visakhapatnam has 19 ATMs, apart from five mobile ATMs each in the plain areas of Visakhapatnam and Anakapalli and in the tribal areas of ASR districts. The ATMs and the services of the bank would be increased. Mr. Tata Rao said the bank has a total 4,48,000 farmers as members through 98 Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) in Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and ASR district. The other societies under its purview include: various cooperative societies like fisherfolk societies, weavers societies and societies pertaining to cooperative sugar factories.

“Our target for the 2025-26 fiscal is ₹3,000 crore,” he added.