He made this call while speaking as the chief guest at the 49th Annual General Meeting of Bangladesh Cooperative Bank Limited held at the Multipurpose Hallroom of the Cooperative Directorate in Agargaon, Dhaka, on Tuesday.

The minister said the main objective of cooperatives is not earning profit; rather, it is ensuring the economic emancipation of poor and underprivileged people. However, to keep the bank's activities sustainable, financial discipline and rules and regulations must be followed.

Saying that the culture of deliberately not repaying loans is unacceptable, he said if there is any problem in repaying loans due to natural disasters or genuine reasons, it will be considered humanely. But taking loans and spending the money elsewhere and deliberately becoming defaulters will not be accepted.

Urging the rational presentation of the cooperative bank's problems and needs, the minister said he would work with the cooperators to make the bank more effective for the welfare of the poor people of the country.

The meeting was presided over by Pradip Kumar Mohottam, Additional Secretary of the Rural Development and Cooperatives Division. Special guests were Dr. Rafiqul E Mohamed, Secretary of the Division, and Md. Selim Fakir, Director General of the Cooperative Directorate.