MES Employees Co-op. Credit Society’s 100 Years of Service – A Glorious Achievement – Major General Sudhir Thakur

Pune (February 3, 2026): The Military Engineering Service (MES), a central government organization, was established in 1924 during the pre-independence era. Two years later, in 1926, the MES Employees Co-op. Credit Society Ltd. was founded. This institution, started by a select group of MES employees, has been providing services to over 10,000 members for 100 consecutive years by facilitating easy loan disbursement, which is a matter of great pride for MES. The society has implemented the state-of-the-art CBS (Core Banking System) computer system. This will further increase efficiency and provide better services to the members, expressed Major General Sudhir Thakur, Chief Engineer, Southern Command.
Major General Sudhir Thakur was speaking as the chief guest at the centenary celebration program of the MES Employees Co-op. Credit Society Ltd. in Pune. Present on the occasion were CRCS, Joint Secretary, Central Government, New Delhi, Monica Khanna, IDSE, CE Pune Zone V. P. Srivastava, MES Society President Vilas Bhondwe, Secretary Rajesh Tilekar, Vice President Pratibha Shinde, Joint Secretary Dipesh Natak, Mumbai Branch Secretary Shekhar Vyavahare, Directors Santosh Arakh, Nilesh Rokade, Lalit Pundkar, CEO C. N. Tonde, as well as Colonel Sumit Vashisht, Colonel Vikas Singh Senegar, Colonel Satya Narayan, PCDA Swati Surve, Umesh Kumar, Abhijit Paul, K. Prasad, Vinay Pratap, Devendra Kumar, Angad Tiwari, Kameshwar Prasad, Sunil Kage, Dhirendra Singh, Dilip Kumar, P. S. Rao, and others. On this occasion, the winners of the lucky draw, Shubhangi Tilekar, Aarti Waykar, Anuja Medhekar, Mangal Tilekar, and Rizwana Sheikh, were honored with Paithani sarees.

Earlier, at the office of the MES Employees Co-op Credit Society in Rasta Peth, Pune, a foundation stone was unveiled by dignitaries, and the centenary celebration was marked by cutting a cake.

While welcoming the guests, the society’s president, Vilas Bhondwe, stated that officers and employees from 13 states across the country, working in the Military Engineering Service of the Central Government’s Defence Department, are members of this credit society. This institution, which started with a membership fee of just one rupee, has been providing continuous service for 100 years and conducts business worth more than 100 crore rupees annually. This has been possible due to the trust shown by the members in the board of directors. He also assured that even better services would be provided to the members in the future.

In his introductory remarks, Secretary Rajesh Tilekar said that their society consistently receives an “A” grade in the audit report. Additional services such as insurance coverage up to seven lakh rupees and a death fund are also provided. Last year, the institution paid a 7 percent dividend, and an 8 percent annual interest is given on fixed deposits. Even after employees retire from service, the society maintains a familial relationship with them, which is why thousands of members and their families were present at this event today.

The program was compered by Vice President Pratibha Shinde, and the vote of thanks was given by Director Santosh Arakh.

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