Page:Indian Journal of Economics Volume 2.djvu/382

 and treat the panches and the members as children and deprive hem sf heir legitimate powers of had saion. manag6men. The no he endency The managemen of warning would be superfluous, been towards undue centrali- societies will never be effective and democratic unless the panches are invested with real responsibility, and are made strictly to con- form to the rules as to punctual repayment of loans., The personnel o the panches should be periodically changed--retirement by rotation may be followed, and arrangements made for the speedy removal of default- ing panches. It is not usually realised to what extent t.he panches set the tone of a society, and make or mar its future. The dties of panches faithfully discharged are far from pleasant, and it is necessary that the burden should be shared at regular intervals, and that honest and devoted work be recognized suitably at the annual meetings of the central bank. Nobody should be allowed to continue as oe of the panches for more than two consecutive terms of oilice, that is to say, from two to four years according to local conditions and bye-laws. Probably the most general defect in the management of central banks is the mechanical and narrowly rigid adherence to the records of assets or the Asy rSgisters in making advances to societies. It is inevitable that the bank must base its decision as to the loanable amount principally on the information supplied by registers. But the eharacter and past history of a borrower should also receive consideration, especially at the hands of a co-operative bank. The registers are notoriously unreliable, and even where that is not the case, they need revisions at short intervals to be kept up-to-date. And this is by no means an easy task, and [ do not know of any other means of effectively acomplishing it than by making