Bihar: PACS elections conclude today; Shahi, Chaubey declared winners

The elections for PACSs are underway in Bihar and several co-operators including Vinay Kumar Sahi, Ramesh Chandra Chaubey and others have already been declared elected. Several phases of election in different blocks of the state have already taken place with the last phase being slated today on 17^th December 2019.

There is news that Bihar State Cooperative Union Chairman Vinay Kumar Shahi has been elected unopposed as Chairman of Ahiyapur PACCS, Block Vijaypur, District Gopalganj in Bihar.

Informing about the victory of Chaubey, Biscomaun Chairman Sunil Kumar Singh wrote “Happy to inform you that the chairman of Bihar State Cooperative Bank Ramesh Chandra Chaubey has been declared the winner by a landslide victory. His opponent could get just 63 votes.

It is being reported that there are over 8,034 PACCs in the State out of which 7,000 societies’ elections are in progress. The remaining societies’ elections are not being held because of the non-completion of tenures, defaulters and many other reasons.

The PACCs in Sakra, Bandra, Muraul and Mushahari blocks held their elections recently. There are six PACCs in Muraul, eighteen in Sakra, twenty-one in Mushahari. The election in the third phase of Motipur block of Muzaffarpur took place on 13th December.

It is learnt that Biscomaun Chairman Sunil Kumar Singh is not contesting the PACCs election because the society linked to Singh has not paid the fees.

Frenzied canvassing preceded the election in the PACCs societies in Mohanpur block on 15th December. Over 40 voting centers in 17 panchayats were employed for the purpose.

After PACCs, the elections of trade cooperatives, District Central Cooperative Banks, and Apex bodies will be held. The elections are being conducted under the supervision of Bihar State Election Authority.

Meanwhile, commenting on the working of PACS in Bihar, our correspondent Paran Nath Chaudhary says when he met a Dalit PACS member in his village Karajapatti in Darbhanga, a district in north Bihar, the poor chap had no idea as to what is his role as PACS member.

Adding Chaudhary said PACS are puppeteered by dominant elements and the ordinary people elected to it, especially those coming from the weaker sections of society are hardly allowed any say in the decision making.

Though one could count cooperatives in Bihar on the fingers of one hand, most of them are not known to people as they take little interest in cooperative affairs. Gujarat is a long way to go for them, said Chaudhary after the visit.