Four more branches of the Goa State Co-operative Bank (GSCB) closed down on September 1. The apex bank, which is currently under the control of the administrative committee headed by senior chartered accountant P V Prabhu Verlekar, had found six branches commercially unviable and decided to close them down.
The banking operations of the four branches including Orlim-Salcete, Zuarinagar, Verna and Amona-Bicholim have been merged with Margao, Cansaulim, Cortalim and Marcel branches respectively. Earlier, GSCB had shut down two branches – Poinguinim and Patradevi – by merging them into nearby branches.
Verlekar has also informed that that a voluntary retirement scheme closed down from August 31. As a result, the administrative body succeeded in reducing 81 staff. He added that another 100 bank employees were relieved, including the 81 who retired. This saved the bank `7 crore a year.
Verlekar also announced that GSCB collected `6 crore as profit for the first quarter from April to June 2018 and by the end of the financial year, it was likely it would reach `25 crore. According to the senior chartered accountant, the committee has implemented all measures, achieved its targets in the past year and is will soon renovate all branches of the bank
