“The committee´s meeting held on Thursday directed ADBL and NT as well as the ministries concerned that are overseeing those companies to come up with detailed plans for the divestment of those companies and their role and status after divestment,” Hari Rokka, a member of the committee, told myrepublica.com on Saturday. [break]
Rokka said the committee also has sought information about possible changes in the nature of the services to be provided by ADBL to clients after divestment of its shares to strategic partners.
“The committee has demanded a clear vision from the government on the status of ADBL, which has been directly involved in providing loans to farmers, on its executive structure and the management of existing employees after the sale of its shares,” said Rokka.
Similarly, the committee has also demanded detailed modalities for divestment at NT.
The committee has cautioned the government not to divest the four rural development banks to local co-operatives without assessing the bona fides of the latter.
“We have also suggested to the government to conduct detail investigations into the cooperatives to which the shares would be sold under the divestment plan since the ownership of some cooperatives is found to be dominated by certain families,” he said.
At an earlier meeting, the committee had decided to divest shares of the four rural development banks to augment local ownership in those entities.
The meeting had taken a decision to sell off all stakes of Purvanchal Rural Development Bank, Pashchimanchal Rural Development Bank, Madhya Pashchimanchal Rural Development Bank and Sudur Pashchimanchal Rural Development Bank to local cooperatives.
The government has an 8 to16 percent stakes in those banks. The government has already sold off its stake in Madhyamanchhal Rural Development Bank to the illegal network marketing operator, Unity Life International.
Other financial institutions such as Rastriya Banijya Bank, Nepal Bank Ltd, ADBL and Nabil Bank also have stakes in those banks.
Related story
ADBL, Easylink sign MoU for remittance business
