The Cooperative Audit Department has issued an order making it mandatory even for loss-making cooperative societies to remit to the Cooperative Education Fund for the State Cooperative Union – the nodal agency focusing on cooperative education, training and propaganda.
So far, the cooperative unions had to remit to the Education fund at the rate of 5 percent from profit-making societies including Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACS).
The order has been issued with a retrospective effect from January 1, 2013.
Cooperative auditors, who demanded anonymity, said the new order would not benefit the unions as auditing had already been updated in all districts except for Thiruvananthapuram.
According to the cooperative auditors, there was no point asking the societies to remit to the education fund after issuing audit certificates to them.
