By I C Naik
Indian Cooperators are anxious about a New Union Cooperation Minister, a portfolio retained in this august office of the Prime Minster of India. In view of the dire need to implement Constitutional Mandates under the Constitution ( 97th Amendment ) Act 2011 this position is overdue indeed.
The Justification of this appeal is fortified by certain steps taken in the State of Maharashtra the pioneering State a home ground of no less than the pilot of the Constitution ( 97th Amendment ) Bill 2009 Sharad Rao Pawar.
Remedial measures to the following violation of Constitutional Mandates by Legislature of Maharashtra and the State Administration are long overdue. The State Administration is overtly resisting implementation with a view to take political advantage of the ruling party hold on cooperatives in ensuing elections even throwing of Constitutional Mandate also.
1. Thousands of cooperative society boards have overstretched their tenure and Legislature has extended their tenure indefinitely by making provision in the M C S Act 1960. [Article 243ZJ(2) violated]
2. Contrary to the Constitutional Mandate of encouraging democratic member-control and autonomous functioning the Registrar of Societies has been given arbitrary sole power to specify mandatory Bye Laws for any cooperative society (Proviso to Section 14). (Article 243ZI violated)
3. Circumventing the Constitutional embargo on deputing a bureaucrat to manage financially self sufficient co-operative societies by abuse of the Constitutional term “authorized person”( Section 77A of the M C S Act 1960) [Article 243ZL violated]
4. Contravention of the mandates to set up a State Cooperative Election Authority, to hold timely elections of the Committee / Boards, Office Bearers, provisional committees, fill casual vacancies, [Article 243ZK violated]
5. Higher number of reserved Seats and the State to identify the societies to make reservations Contravention of [Article 243ZJ(1) violated ]
6. Re-Politicisation of cooperatives – Lifting embargo on the State / Central Ministers to occupy top management positions
7. Committee can up casual vacancy if unexpired tenure is less than half. But State law has withdrawn this liberty of the boards
8. Elections of the Provisional Committee outside SCEA’s power.
9. Member’s failure to attend minimum meetings is condonable by General Body Meeting
READERS are requested to please sign this petition and express your solidarity.
Leave alone Election commissioner or co-op election machinery, there are confusions galore as far as housing co-operative elections. The Housing Federation has displyed in BOLD LETTERS on its office notice board that 2013 Model Bye Laws are not yet approved and adopted. Therefore, societies can follow 2009 Bye Laws, copies of which are available. As per 2009 Bye Laws, there is no need to fall upon the election machinery constituted by the Govt. of Maharashtra for conducting elections to co-operative housing societies. As per the draft Election Rules circulated by the Govt, societies with less than 100 members can conduct elections to Managing Committee on their own. Societies and individual members have been knocking on the doors of the Co-op Commissioner with repeat reminders, but the Commissioner is not in a mood to reply. Even reference from Chief Minister’s office does not evoke any response. Serious issues are being faced by the housing societies, as the caretaker MC cannot address those. Is there anyone to answer these problems, plese.
Representation should also be made to the Prime Minister to exclude small Co-operaive Housing Societies from the clutches of the election commissioner – for example there are many socieities which have members ranging between 12 and 32. Why should they incur additional expenses for holding election through the commissioner?