Thiruvananthapuram: The cooperative sector in India has been frequently marred by financial irregularities. Kerala too is not immune to scandals emanating from cooperative banks and societies. The Department of Cooperation, Government of Kerala, is planning to curtail the tenure of a director board member of a cooperative society or a bank to a maximum of two terms and give one-third representation to women in the director boards in a bid to root out many a ills plaguing the sector.
The cooperative law in Kerala is set to be amended to bring about wholesome changes aimed at reducing graft. Large-scale irregularities and corruption have been reported from the cooperative banks and societies from across the state.
The recommendations to this effect were given by a panel headed by Retired Additional Registrar Jose Philip appointed by the government to suggest changes in the existing cooperative law.
The draft of the amendment prepared by the panel was discussed at length at a high-level meeting chaired by Cooperation Minister V N Vasavan the other day. Altogether, amendments in 54 clauses were mooted by the panel.
Police verification for the appointment of staff in the cooperative societies and banks would be made mandatory. The Cooperative Examination Board would be entrusted with the conduct of examinations for jobs arising out of all vacancies except for part-time sweepers.
A new clause will be added in the law by which the head of the cooperative institution or auditors can directly complain to the police and Vigilance about the corrupt officials. If serious irregularities are unearthed, money will be recovered from the official responsible for the fraud.
Major recommendations
1. Provision for recovering money from those who incur loss to the cooperative body by indulging in irregularities.
2. Powers be given to the Cooperative Vigilance Department to act as per the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
3. The State Election Commission should conduct Cooperative Union polls.
4. Auditors should not be sent to a cooperative body more than two times.
5. Auditors should do re-auditing by spending from their own pockets in case any serious lapse in the first audit is reported.
