Cabinet okays amendments to Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act

New Delhi, Oct 12: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved amendments to the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act to bring transparency and accountability in the sector as well as reform the electoral process.

The Union Cabinet has approved the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which seeks to amend the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002, I&B Minister Anurag Thakur told reporters here after the Cabinet meeting.

He said the amendments seek to improve ease of doing business, bringing greater transparency and enhance governance.

The government plans to bring the amendment Bill in upcoming winter session of Parliament, Thakur said.

At present, India has more than 1,500 multi-state co-operative societies spread across the country promoting economic and social betterment of their members based on the principles of self-help and mutual aid.

Giving major highlights of the amendment Bill, Thakur said the government has included provisions relating to representation of women and Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe members on the board of multi-state cooperative societies.

The Bill will incorporate the provisions of the 97th Constitutional Amendment.

The amendments have been brought to reform the electoral process, strengthen monitoring mechanisms and enhance accountability.

Official sources said the Bill will also widen the composition of board and ensure financial discipline, besides enabling the multi-state cooperative societies to raise funds.

To improve the governance of multi-state cooperative societies, the Bill has specific provisions for setting up of Cooperative Election Authority, Cooperative Information Officer and Cooperative Ombudsman.

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. There is a provision to debar offenders for three years to bring in more electoral discipline.

The ombudsman will provide for a mechanism for redressal of member grievances in a structured fashion, while cooperative information officer will enhance transparency by providing members timely access to information.

Seeking to promote professional management, the Bill has provisions for bringing in co­-opted directors with experience in the field of banking, management, cooperative management and finance. The directors having specialisation in any field relating to the objects and activities undertaken by such multi-State co-operative society can be represented on the board.

For ease of doing business, the amendment Bill proposes to reduce the period of registration, with a provision for the applicants to seek additional time of two months for rectification of mistakes. It also provides for electronic submission and issuance of documents, thus providing for a comprehensive digital ecosystem.

There will also be a provision for issuing non-voting shares in multi-state co-operative societies to help them raise funds.

Further, the newly proposed Rehabilitation, Reconstruction & Development Fund will help in revitalising sick co-operative societies.

Moreover, the provision for stipulating prudential norms will bring in financial discipline. The amendments relating to auditing mechanism will ensure more accountability.

The amendment Bill is aimed at strengthening the cooperative movement in the country.

The amendment follows extensive consultations with stakeholders and it was decided to amend the existing Act to bring it in line with Part IXB of the Constitution.

The Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act, 2002 was enacted with a view to facilitating democratic functioning and autonomous working of multi-state co-operative societies in line with the established co-operative principles.