In the absence of supporting provisions in the MSCS Act 2002, Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies Vivek Agrawal is having a tough time finding a solution for the impending AGMs and elections of multistate co-op bodies in the wake of Covid 19.
“The Central Registrar has held two meetings with a select band of co-operators and has tried to find a solution through consensus”, said one of the participants of the Webinar held last Friday.
His office may release a notification within ten days in this regard, said a source. There is speculation that the draft guidelines may be first shared among co-operators before the final notification is issued.
While the first meeting was to hear co-operators’ view-points on issues arising out of the Corona scare, the second was aimed at knowing how Companies are able to combat the situation. Central Registrar Agrawal sought written suggestions from the participants.
Presentations were also made on how companies conduct their AGMs, said one of the participants.
The virtual meeting was attended by Nafcub President Jyotindrabhai Mehta, Sahakar Bharati’s GS Uday Joshi, Cosmos Bank Chairman Milind Kale, Saraswat Bank CGM Ajay Jain, AP Mahesh Urban Cooperative Bank CEO Umesh Chand Asawa and some individual cooperators such as Ashok Dabas, etc among others.
On this occasion, cooperators shared their views freely. Talking to Indian Cooperative Uday Joshi said, “We have requested the Central Registrar to allow multi-state co-op societies to conduct virtual AGMs. But we have different opinions on holding co-op elections and have suggested to him that they better be postponed for the time being, underlined Joshi.
Another participant Umesh Chand Asawa, CEO, AP Mahesh UCB said, ” We suggested to give its approval to conduct the AGM virtually before 30th September because there are many resolutions for the growth of co-ops to be passed with the approval of shareholders but the proceedings are delayed due to the non-conduct of meetings. The election should not be conducted through video conferencing, said Asawa.
Ashok Dabas said the Central Registrar is very positive towards the concerns of co-ops. We are in favor of holding virtual elections as well as AGMs. It is not difficult to conduct the elections online, Dabas who is eager to contest for a berth in NCUI’s GC said.
One of the views emerging in the cooperative circles is that a final decision can be taken through consensus. There are pros and cons of both the situations, said Nafcub President Jyotindra Mehta. In the absence of clarity in the MSCS Act, any arbitrary decision could be challenged in court, cautioned Mehta.
There are provisions in the Act in Gujarat whereby the RoC can take a decision but the same is missing in the MSCS Act 2002, clarified Mehta. It bears recall that co-op elections are being conducted in Gujarat despite the Covid scare.
The provisions of co-op acts vary from state to state as in Maharashtra, the state govt had to come up with an ordinance postponing co-op election. How the Central Registrar would wriggle out of this dilemma in the absence of supporting constitutional provisions remains to be seen.