The Coimbatore District Central Co-operative Bank Ltd. is a central financing agency of all affiliated co-operative societies in Coimbatore and Tirupur Districts, and one of the earliest Bank registered in Tamil Nadu. The Bank is the leader for all the co-operative movements in the Coimbatore and Tirupur District.
The Madras Government, in their order No. 3365 Revenue dated 16.09.1910 permitted the registration of the Bank which was done by the then Registrar, Diwan Bahadur R. Ramachandra Rao on 30th September 1910 and it commenced working on 16th October 1910.
The first General Meeting was convened on 27.11.1910 and the following gentlemen were elected as the first set of Directors.
- The Hon’ble Rao Bahadur T.S. Balakrishna Aiyer,B.A., B.L., President,
- Sri. Rao Bahadur C. Nagoji Rao., B.A., Vice President,
- Sri. C.N. Krishnaswami Iyer, M.A., L.T.,Secretary,
- Sri. Diwan Bahadur M.R. Kalingarayar, Zamindar of Uthukuli, Director
- Sri. K.N. Rangayya Gounder, Kambilipatti,
- Sri. N. Giria Chettiar, Merchant, Coimbatore
- Sri. Rao Bahadur. T.A. Ramalingam Chettiar, B.A., B.L., Coimbatore
- Sri. T. Ramaswamay Iyengar, Coimbatore,
- Sri. N. Ramaswamy Iyer, B.A. , B.L., Coimbatore.
Rao Bahadur Sri. T.A. Ramalingam Chettiar, B.A., B.L.
Ravo Bahadur Sri.T.A. Ramalingam Chettiar, the Father of Cooperative Movement was born on May 18, 1881 to Sri. Angappa Chettiar and Meenakshi Ammal. He belonged to a family of merchants, originally from Tirunvelveli District. Sri. T.A. Ramalingam Chettiar obtained his B.L. Degree in 1904 and enrolled himself as a High Court Vakkil.
Sri. T.A. Ramalingam Chettiar was the leading light of the Cooperative moment. In 1919, he became the Chairman of the Coimbatore municipality and in 1921 the President of the District Board.
The co-operative revolution which he had triggered in Coimbatore region had spread all over the Madras Presidency. He was instrumental in the birth of the Central Co-operative Bank, Urban Bank, Land Development Bank, Co-operative Milk Union and Co-operative Printing Press in Coimbatore. He headed many of them for quite some time. He played a major role even in the establishment of State-level co-operative bodies.
He was elected as one the director in the first set of Directors of The Coimbatore District Central Cooperative Bank Ltd. He served as the Chairman of the Coimbatore District Central Cooperative Bank Ltd., from 1929 to 1952. He was the Chairman of the Tamil Nadu State Apex Cooperative Bank Ltd., from 1941 to 1952. The Coimbatore Cooperative Institute has been aptly named as “The Ramalingam Cooperative Training Institute” in recognition of his cooperative activities.
Initial Authorized Share Capital:
The authorized share capital of the Bank was Rupees 1,00,000/- divided into 1000 shares of Rs.100/- each. All the shares were allotted even on the starting date. The individual share holders were solely responsible for the conduct of the Bank’s affairs.
Jurisdiction of the Bank
The original jurisdiction of the Bank was limited to only the revenue district of Coimbatore. But in 1912 its area was extended to the district of Nilgiris, South Canara and Malabar. This Bank financed the societies in the South Canara District till 1915 and Malabar District till 1918 and Nilgirist till 1954 and withdraw when these districts got Central Banks of their own.
First Year Profit
The very first year ending 30.06.1911 showed a net profit of Rs.2,559-3-8. Out of this net profit a sum of Rs.1698-10-9 was set apart as Dividend Equalization Fund and the balance of Rs.860-08-11 was declared as divisible profit.
Supervising Unions
Sri. C.N. Krishnaswamy Iyer, M.A., L.T., who was one of the signatories to the application for registration, was the first Honorary Secretary to the Bank. He worked in that capacity for nearly ten years from 27.11.1910 to 19.03.1920. He was not only responsible for the growth of the Bank but also starting several rural and urban societies all over the district, the most notable among them being
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- The Coimbatore Cooperative Stores and Bank No.26 and
- Chennimalai Rural Credit Society Ltd., No. 72 which were the first non-credit cooperative society and rural credit society registered in the District. Both these societies were started in 1906 and 1908 long before the District Central Bank was started. The Chennimalai Rural Credit Society was organized and started by late Sri. Krishna Mudaliar. Sri. Krishna Mudaliar was the pioneer of the movement in rural cooperation in the District.
With the formation of more and more societies in the districts, the volume of loans issued by the Bank also increased. The responsibility to collect the loans from the affiliated societies in time and to supervise them efficiently, came to be recognized. To achieve these two objects the Bank took up the formation of supervising Unions side by side with its own growth. The first supervising Union was stated at Vijayamangalam in Erode Taluk.
The year 1920 constituted an important landmark in the history of the Bank. In that the societies were admitted to the Management on an equal footing with the individuals, on the lines recommended by the Maclagan Committee on Cooperation. The Coimbatore District Cooperative Bank was the first Bank in the State to give effect to this recommendation and admitted five societies as members in the year 1915.
Branch in Nilgiris District.
A branch of the Bank was opened at Ootacamund in July 1930 with a view to encourage the growth of cooperative movement in theNilgiris District and to provide better facilities in meeting the requirements of societies there.
Tamil Nadu Cooperative Federation
In order to ensure more intensive propaganda and education of the cooperators, a separate organization called Tamilndu Cooperative Federation comprising all the Districts was formed in 1929 with its Head quarters at Coimbatore. The Federation published a fortnightly journal in Tamil called “கூட்டுறவு” for the use of village cooperators. The bank’s library was placed at its disposal and the Federation was permitted to have its office at the Bank’s premises, till it was amalgamated with the Madras State Cooperative Union in 1956 as the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Union.
Silver Jubilee
An important event that took place in 1938 was that the Central Bank celebrated its silver Jubilee on a grand scale
Cooperative Training Institute
The Coimbatore Cooperative Institute was registered as a cooperative society on 27.04.1941 and started functioning from 02.07.1941 with a donation of Rs.25,000/- from the Central Bank and donations from other societies to the extent of rupees one lakh. The institute was established with the donation of land by the philanthropist T.A. Ramalingam Chettiar, for capacity building of youth in cooperatives related studies. In memorial of Late Sri. T.A. Ramalingam Chettiar, the name of the institute was changed its name as Ramalingam Cooperative Training Institute in 1952.
The Institute was for a long time training Supervisors from the Districts of Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Salem, North Arcot, Malabar and South Canara. Since the reorganization of states, South Canara and Malabar were excluded, and from 1959-60, Salem and North Arcot were excluded from the area of operation. Now the trainees are from Coimbatore, Tirupur and Nilgiris District.The Institute is now functioning as a unit under the control of Tamil Nadu Cooperative Union, w.e.f. 01.07.2008.
Cooperative Printing Press
It was a long cherished desire of cooperators to have a Printing Press on cooperative basis. With the patronage of the Bank, the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Federation and other sister cooperative institutions in the district, a printing press was started in 1933.
The Coimbatore Cooperative Milk Supply Union
The Coimbatore cooperative milk supply union was started in 1937 with the object of supplying pure milk to the residents of Coimbatore city. It was the second institution of the kind in our state next to the Madras Cooperative Milk Supply Union.
Nilgiris District Central Bank
The year 1956 was an eventful one as the aspirations of the cooperators of the Nilgiris District were fulfilled by the formation and inauguration of the Nilgirist District Central Bank by His Exellency Sri. Prakasa, Governor of Madras on 15.05.1954. As a result of bifurcation of the composite Bank into two Central Banks for each of the districts, the assets and liabilities were apportioned.
State Reorganization scheme
In the year 1956, under the State Reorganization schemes, a part of Coimbatore District namely Kollegal Taluq was transferred to Mysore state. As a result of this, the assets and liabilities of societies in Kollegal Taluk were transferred to Mandya Cooperative Central Bank.
Cooperative Marketing of Agricultural produce Society
The Coimbatore Central Cooperative Stores now called as the Coimbatore District Cooperative supply and marketing Societies was started in the year 1941.
Golden Jubilee
In the History of Coimbatore District Central Cooperative Bank Ltd., the celebration of Golden Jubilee on 20th September 1961 was unforgettable. Golden Jubilee function was well organized by Thiru. K. Chenniappan Gounder, Chairman of the Bank His Excellency Shri Bisnuram Medhi, Governor of Tamil Nadu, Sri. M. Bhaktavatsalam, Honourable Minister of Tamil Nadu, Sri. V. Balasundram, I.A.S., Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Sri. R. Kanakasabai, Chairman of Tamil Nadu State Apex Cooperative Bank Ltd. participated and made the occasion a memorable one.
Diamond Jubilee 1910-1970
The Coimbatore Central Cooperative celebrated its Diamond Jubilee on 20th December 1970. Diamond Jubilee building stone was laid on this day. The Diamond Jubilee Building was opened on 21st May 1978.
ERODE DCCB
Erode District came into being as a result of the bifurcation of Coimbatore District through the G.O.Ms.No.1917, Revenue dated 31.08.1979. The Erode District Central Cooperative Bank Ltd was registered on 11th July 1980 and started its functioning on 03rd February 1982. As a result of bifurcation of the composite Bank into two Central Banks for each of the districts, the assets and liabilities were apportioned
Computerization & Core Banking Solutions
Nowadays, banks are increasingly adopting IT based solutions, for providing better services to their customers. The Tamil Nadu Government and NABARD had taken steps to implement Core Banking Solution in all Central Cooperative Banks in Tamil Nadu. As instructed by the Government of Tamil Nadu and NABARD, a Service Level Agreement was signed between The Coimbatore District Central Cooperative Bank Ltd., and M/s Tata Consultancy Ltd., on 08th February 2012. As per the Service Level Agreement BANCS software is implemented in Central Cooperative Banks through M/s Tata Consultancy Services Ltd
Under the supervision of NABARD and the guidance of the Tamil Nadu State Apex Cooperative Bank Ltd., all branches and Head office were migrated to CBS Platform in the year 2013. As a sub member to the Tamil Nadu State Apex Cooperative Bank Ltd., the IFS Code Number of the Bank is TNSC001000. Now the RTGS and NEFT facility is available in all branches. The Tamil Nadu Apex Cooperative Bank has taken full effort to implement modern technologies in Central Cooperative Banks
As on 31.03.2015, there were 1079 affiliated societies with a paid up share capital of Rs.4288.44 lakhs. The Authorized Share Capital of the Bank is Rs. 7500 Lakhs Made up of 7,50,000 shares.
The Bank is functioning with a network of 38 Branches covering Coimbatore and Tirupur Districts in 20 blocks