Days after the Muvattupuzha Urban Co-operative Bank landed in a controversy after a Dalit family was evicted from a house there, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the bank, Jose K Peter, has resigned. The announcement came hours after Minister for Cooperation VN Vasavan said that action will be taken against the officials for the incident. On April 2, bank officials had sealed the property of one Ajeesh. The controversy arose as Ajeesh and his wife were at a hospital when the bank officials reached their house, and their two minor daughters were sent out of the house, causing an uproar. The house was sealed reportedly for defaulting on a loan payment.
On Wednesday, April 6, Jose submitted his resignation letter to the bank’s chairman and CPI(M) state committee member Gopi Kottamurikkal. He also said that he was quitting so as to avoid action against the officials who did not commit any mistakes. “Though the minister has said that action has been initiated against the officers responsible, no order has been received so far,” he said, according to The New Indian Express.
Meanwhile, the Muvattupuzha joint registrar of co-operative societies, in its preliminary report, has stated that the bank officials did not arrange an alternative shelter for the family, as directed by the state government.
Bank officials have said that they attached the property based on a court directive. After the incident reached Congress MLA from Muvattupuzha, Mathew Kuzhalnadan, he broke open the doors of the house that was sealed. The MLA, in a video uploaded on social media, had also said, "It doesn't matter which court passed the order but it was unacceptable to throw two children out of their house. How can they evict two minor children when their parents were not home? Even though they (bank officials) may have the court order, they could have shown some humanity."
Soon after the incident, the state government sought a report from the bank and Minister Vasavan said that the government’s stand was that no one should be evicted until another shelter for them was identified. "The stand of the Left government is that no one should be evicted and rendered shelterless. The process of eviction can take place once a shelter for the family is identified. I came to know that the bank has been asked to hand over the key to the family. We have asked for a report from the bank," Vasavan told reporters.