The Kerala State Cooperative Agricultural and Rural Development Bank Limited (KSCARDB) celebrated its Diamond Jubilee on December 14, 2016.  As the Apex body of the Primary Co-operative Agricultural and Rural Development Banks in Kerala, KSCARDB has done yeoman service to its members in its 60 years’ existence. Starting with its services in the initial years to address debt of farmers, it has moved to meeting production and long-term development needs; and most recently focused its attention on the needs of artisans and small entrepreneurs and specific in areas like village industries and rural housing.

The contribution of KSCARDB to the development needs of its community has been well recognized over the years through various awards - Government of India Trophy for Best All-round Performance 2014-15; Meloth Narayanan Nambiar Memorial Trophy for Best Performance in Lending; Punjab Chief Minister’s Trophy for Best Performance in Loan Recovery; and the Federation Trophy for Best Performance in Deposit Mobilisation! The Chief Guest, Honorable Governor of Kerala, Justice (retd.) P. Satasivam, recalled his association with co-operatives and called on the bank functionaries to broaden the choices of funds available to farmers and educate farmers about the schemes. The invited guests included the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. V.S. Sunil Kumar; Minister of Agriculture, Mr. K. Surendran; President of NCUI, Dr. Chandra Pal Singh Yadav; Chairman of NACRDB, Mr. Sukdarshan Singh Brar; and Balasubramanian Iyer, Regional Director, ICA-AP. Following the opening ceremony, a seminar was held to held to discuss the future of cooperative banks and how they should position themselves. The seminar was timely given the shadow of demonetization where cooperative banks were severely hampered in their operations.