Reacting to the letter delinking NCCT from NCUI, Dr Chandra Pal Singh Yadav President of the apex body of co-operatives in the country said “it is our compulsion to fight it out; there is no choice”, he added.
What remains of NCUI when NCCT goes away from this; it was primarily to cater to the training needs of cooperatives and cooperators that NCUI came into being, said Chandra Pal.
We have always tried to adjust with the Ministry and have brooked its interference in a number of matters but this is extreme as it threatens the very existence of the apex body, Yadav said. Avoiding showdown has been our approach so far but no more, Yadav said hinting at legal recourse in the matter.
The byelaws of NCUI are very clear and NCCT is very much part of it, the govt cannot arbitrarily delink it. NCUI is a cooperative body with thousands of people as its members who decide about the course NCCT has to take, stated Yadav.
Indian Cooperative has found out that NCUI has already consulted lawyers who have prima-facia assured them of a possible stay from the court due to the “erroneous order” issued by the Ministry.
It is the vey violation of the MSCS Act 2002 which the Ministry vows to implement on others, the lawyers have opined, according to a source.
Besides, there are issues of RICMs and ICMs which are run by respective state co-op unions. There are several state unions who do not like the idea of being controlled by the Central govt. The Union govt also cannot have its way here as cooperative is a state subject, said a few cooperators to Indian Cooperative.
“Yes it is true”, said Chandra Pal; “it was NCUI which acted as an interface between state and the ministry that these organizations- having both fund and office given by respective states- remained in the fold”, he underlined.
“Though the govt gives grant to many organizations as it does to NCCT but if the worst comes to the worst we could ask them to stop giving us grants. Operational independence is of supreme value for the success of the cooperative movement and it cannot be run on the strength of Ministry officials”, he underlined.
Indian Cooperative has also learned that in the case of “NCCT funding” more than 80% is met by NCUI through Corpus Fund and remaining 20% is met by the govt grant on average.
Besides NCCT, other activities which NCUI does include co-op education (NCCE), Field Projects, representing Indian Cooperative before the world. “It is the face of country’s co-operative movement and handing it down to babus does not augur well for the movement”, say cooperators almost in unison.
Even the RSS chief said recently in a Sahakar Bharati function that it is only when govt efforts are guided by a passionate leadership that the expected results could be achieved. “The Govt has been carrying on co-operative activities for many years but have you seen any results”, he asked. A few cooperators wondered if the present BJP leadership has heard RSS Chief saying it so clearly. “After all he is the guide and philosopher of this govt”, they argue.
Indian Cooperative is of the view that handing over the co-op movement to the hands of babus is going to be pernicious as bureaucrats are hardly accountable to anyone. Rather, what needs to be done is” cleansing the co-operative leadership instead of attempting a paradigm shift. One should not throw out the baby with the bathwater”.
Readers may recall that almost every committe constituted on NCCT has recommended for giving a legal status to NCCT. Government, NCUI or both of them could cosponsor a society under the Indian societies registration act 1860 . The crying need is to ensure professional outcome from NCCT and for this there is need for commited leadership with integrity.hope good will happen