The winter session of Parliament beginning tomorrow (Wednesday) is going to be important for the cooperative sector as the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022 is likely to be passed. There are 16 new bills slated for this session, says a release of the Lok Sabha.
The Govt claims that the Co-op Amendment Bill seeks to strengthen the governance, transparency and accountability in cooperative societies and reform their electoral process. It also seeks to improve the monitoring mechanism and ease of doing business for these entities.
In October this year, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, approved the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022. “In order to make the governance of multi-State Cooperative societies more democratic, transparent and accountable, provisions for setting up of Cooperative Election Authority, Cooperative Information Officer, Cooperative Ombudsman, etc. have been proposed”, according to govt sources.
The Election Authority will ensure that elections are held in a fair, free and timely manner, which in turn will help reduce incidents of complaints and malpractices. Provisions to debar electrical offenders for three years will bring in more electoral discipline. The Cooperative Ombudsman will provide for a mechanism for the redressal of member grievances in a structured fashion. The provision of Cooperative Information Officer will enhance transparency by providing members timely access to information.
To promote equity and facilitate inclusiveness, provisions relating to representation of women and Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe members on the board of multi-State co-operative societies, have been included.
To promote professional management, provisions have been included for bringing in co-opted directors with experience in the field of banking, management, cooperative management and finance or having specialization in any field relating to the objects and activities undertaken by such multi-State co-operative societies.
Amendments have also been proposed to enhance ease of doing business by reducing the period of registration with a provision for the applicants to seek additional time of 2 months for rectification of mistakes. The amendment also provides for electronic submission and issuance of documents, thus providing for a comprehensive digital ecosystem for multi-State co-operative societies.
Provision for issuance of non-voting shares would provide multi-State co-operative societies with a tool to raise requisite capital. Further, the newly proposed Rehabilitation, Reconstruction & Development Fund will help in revitalising sick multi-State co-operative societies.
In addition to these, the provision for stipulating prudential norms will bring in financial discipline. The amendments relating to the auditing mechanism will bring in more transparency and accountability. The proposed amendments covering major areas of operation and management, would go a long way in strengthening the co-operative movement in the multi-State co-operative sector in the country.
After the formation of the new Ministry of Cooperation in July, 2021, extensive consultations were held with stakeholders and it was decided to amend the existing Act to bring it in line with Part IXB of the Constitution and to strengthen the cooperative movement in the country by bringing in provisions relating to electoral reforms, strengthening governance and transparency, reforming the composition, meetings and membership of board; enabling raising of funds by co-operative sector, strengthening monitoring mechanism, enhancing ease of doing business, etc.
Today, India has more than 1500 multi-State co-operative societies spread across the country serving as an important tool to promote economic and social betterment of their members based on the principles of self-help and mutual aid.