Thrissur: The Karavannur Cooperative Bank will be allotted Rs 25 crore to tide over its financial crisis, Kerala Minister for Higher Education and Social Justice R Bindu said on Friday.

"The matter was taken up with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Co-operative Minister V N Vasavan assured to give Rs 25 crore to the bank immediately to resolve its issues," the Minister, who represents Irinjalakuda in the state Assemby where the bank is located, said.

Her assurance came a day after she was widely criticised for her comments justifying the authorities of the scam-hit bank, saying it had already released money for the treatment of Philomina, a 70-year-old depositor who died early this week following an infection in brain.

The Communist Party of India (CPI) had criticised the government for the inordinate delay in resolving the issues plaguing the bank following the uneathing of a scam that left the investors high and dry. 

'Though the Minister promised to form a consortium to resolve the issue, no efforts were initiated," CPI Trichur District Secretary KK Valsaraj had said.
The irregularities at the bank are pegged at Rs 300 crore, but the government estimates it to be only Rs 150 crore. Last year the bank grabbed headlines after several borrowers received recovery notices for amounts greater than they had borrowed. The borrowers approached the Registrar of Cooperatives and a probe unearthed a multicrore scam.

An 80-year-old man protested with the dead body of his wife before the bank the other day. The bank had allegedly refused to grant money for the woman's treatment despite a deposit of Rs 30 lakh.

Minister  Bindu has alleged political motive behind the depositor's protest. The minister claimed that the patient's family had received a sum for treatment and said she had the best available treatment.  

The bank that was ruled by the CPM for the past four decades reportedly had more than 12,000 investors and they had deposited Rs 340 crore. 

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, V D Satheesan said it was not just the issue of Karavannur co-operative bank, but depositors of as many as 164 such banks across Kerala are facing serious circumstance of not getting their invested money back. "For the last one year, the opposition UDF has been demanding guarantee for the money deposited in co-operative banks. Despite mere assurances that necessary steps will be taken in this regard, the government has not taken any action so far," he said.