Q.Fill in the blank and justify: The apex institution above the District Central Co-operative Bank in the three-tier structure is the __________.

Above the district-level bank sits the single top body for the whole state.

The correct answer for the blank is the State Co-operative Bank (SCB).

In the three-tier rural co-operative credit structure, the State Co-operative Bank is the apex (top) institution for the whole state. Its members are the district central co-operative banks of the state, just as the DCCBs' members are the primary societies. The SCB is the link between the co-operative movement and NABARD and the Reserve Bank of India, from which it draws funds and refinance that flow down through the DCCBs to the primary societies. …

Do not write 'NABARD' or 'the RBI' here. NABARD and the RBI stand outside the three-tier structure as refinancing and regulating bodies; the apex …