State to expedite elections in cooperative unions
Kolkata: To facilitate the smooth functioning of the bodies and maintain transparency, the state government has decided to expedite the process of holding elections in cooperative unions which are presently functioning without an elected board.
In the event that marked the closure of a week-long celebration observing ‘71st All India Co-operative Week’, Pradip Mazumdar, minister of Cooperation Department & Panchayats & Rural Development, said that in developing countries the main objective of cooperative unions is to gather the accumulated wealth of the people of economically weaker sections in one place and help those in dire need of a loan for upliftment purposes. When that person repays the loan, the collected fund is again used to help another.
He said that for lapses in state administration due to various reasons, an impression of such unions was created that it’s a government-run organisation where if one gets a chance to enter, one can use the fund irresponsibly. This defeats the purpose of a cooperative union, he said. Success stories of the following three unions were highlighted — Sridharpur Cooperative Bank, Burdwan, Bagnan-I Mahila Bikas Cooperative Credit Society Ltd and Kushmandi Agricultural Marketing Society Ltd.
“We have been able to remove the existing obstacles and are focusing on forming elected boards to run the unions. If the ones whose wealth are involved in these cooperative bodies are not in a position to take a call as to how the money will be used then these bodies will not be able to function properly,” the minister pointed out.
Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, minister of Agricultural & Parliamentary Affairs, said: “There were days when we used to only hear about graft in cooperative banks. Today, the cooperative unions have seen much progress and have helped uplift many poor persons who benefitted from such a system.”
Among others, the event was also attended by Krishna Gupta, additional chief secretary of the state government, who highlighted certain challenges faced by these unions which include easy access to finance and technology.
