North India has fewer multistate co-ops; Maharashtra has most of them

In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha Union Minister of Cooperation, Amit Shah presented the list of multi state co-op societies active in the country. Shah’s reply says that there are 1508 multi state co-ops in the country active in different states. Shah also pointed out that about 81 multi state co-op societies are under liquidation.

The highest number of multistate co-ops is there in the state of Maharashtra, followed by Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. While Maharashtra has 655 societies, Delhi and UP have 159 and 154 respectively. Tamil Nadu is the only other state having more than 100 societies and the number is 123, says Shah in his reply.

Rajasthan comes after that which is closely followed by West Bengal. While Rajasthan has 72 multi state co-op societies, West Bengal has about 69 multi state co-ops.

The states having multistate co-ops between 25 to 50 are Gujarat (42), Karnataka (29), Madhya Pradesh (29) and Kerala (25)

The numbers of multi state co-ops are very discouraging in the northeast region. Assam has about 8 societies while Sikkim, Arunachal and Nagaland have just one each. Manipur is slightly better with three co-ops.

The three states carved out of Bihar, UP and MP also do not fare well. Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand have 8 multistate co-ops while Uttarakhand has just four.

The fact that the co-op movement is rather weak in the northern region of the country is also born out from the fact that both Himachal and Jammu & Kashmir have just one and two multi state co-ops respectively.

In his reply the minister said “As per the provisions of the Multi State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002 and rules made thereunder, every multi-State cooperative society shall have one principal place of business which shall be the registered office of the society. The registered address of a society can be anywhere in the country as specified in its bye-laws.”

The highest number of multistate co-op societies facing liquidation belongs to the state of Rajasthan (15) and Maharashtra (15). Readers are aware that several chit fund companies masqueraded as multi state co-ops in Rajasthan to cheat people.

 Some of them are Adarsh Credit co-ops, Navjeevan and others. Given the high number of societies in Maharashtra, the number of those under liquidation is only 15.