States told to amend cooperative societies Act

The Centre has asked state governments to amend their respective State Cooperative Society Act in tune with the Constitution (97th Amendment), 2011 before February 14 next year.

“I have already written to Chief Ministers/Lt Governors of states/Union Territories to amend their respective Cooperative Societies Act in tune with the Constitutional Amendment within the stipulated time,” Charan Das Mahant, Minister of State for Agriculture said here today.

Speaking at a national conference on the Constitution (97th Amendment) Act, 2011, organised by the National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI), the minister urged the representatives from states and union territories to expedite the changes.

Elaborating further, Mahant said that the objective of the Constitutional Amendment is to ensure that the cooperative societies in India function in a democratic, professional, autonomous and economically sound manner.

With a network of about six lakh cooperative societies and a membership of about 24.92 crore, the cooperative movement in the country has emerged as one of the largest in the world, he added.

“The cooperative sector provides direct and self employment to about 23.86 million people and it has been the endeavour of the government to evolve an appropriate policy and legislative framework to create environment conducive to the healthy and sound growth of cooperatives,” Mahant added.