Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday pitched for reforms in the cooperative societies, saying the same person cannot be elected year after year and the election process has to become more transparent.
The Minister was addressing an event here after the online launch of the onboarding of cooperatives on the government's e-marketplace (GeM) platform.
Shah stressed the need to expand and modernise the cooperative sector, which he said, has been a "neglected" sector.
"There is a need to bring changes in the cooperative sector at a fast pace," he said, adding that “we will have to change, else people will change us". Shah emphasised bringing transparency in all spheres of the cooperative sector, particularly in three areas, including the election process. "Election process should be transparent. We would like to bring change in this,” he said.
Shah said an election system on the lines of the Election Commission of India will be set up to hold transparent elections for the cooperative bodies. "It is not right for the same person to get elected year after year. This arrangement is not good," the Minister said. Shah said he himself is a chairman of PACS for the last 25 years and it will be changed this year. Moreover, he said there is a need to bring transparency in the recruitment process and the ministry is framing rules for this.
Shah also spoke about the need to bring transparency in purchases and for that there is no better medium than the Government e-marketplace (GeM). On its part, the Minister listed out steps the government is taking to bring reform in the cooperative sector through a holistic approach. He said the Ministry is coming up with a new cooperative policy, preparing a database, setting up a university for conducting training purposes and also establishing an export house to boost overseas shipments.
Shah said the Ministry will also bring changes to the Multi-State Co-operatives Act. The Minister highlighted that the taxation structure in the cooperatives has been brought to par with other companies. The co-operative sector cannot be treated as a second fiddle now, he said. Shah said cooperation is the only way to do something without much capital.