Appearing before the Parliamentary Standing Committee Shri H.K. Patil, Chairman, and NAFCUB said that cooperatives were akin to Self Help Groups and were set up in 1905 for the small and marginalized farmers to save them from the stranglehold of moneylenders.
The principle of One Man One Vote, he said, was the basic feature of cooperatives which underpins their strength. It was later on criticized on the ground of a few failures. He said that the levels of mismanagement and failures in other sectors of economy, meanwhile has not been less.
He stressed the need for amendment of the Constitution to allow the citizens the right to form Cooperatives, to be granted the status of a Fundamental Right as in the case of Unions. He wanted that the Cooperatives be properly defined so that its basic strengths of autonomy and its democratic functioning remain intact. He also argued that the right of govt to make rules for cooperatives should cease so that Cooperatives get their freedom.
Shri Patil also gave his views on various clauses of the Bill, which were important to ensure cooperative autonomy. He said that the amendment should be such that the notion of Cooperatives as government institutions is dispelled.