Cooperative elections to be held after verification of members, says Minister
The Hindu
State government plans to verify members of cooperative societies before conducting elections, highlighting their contribution to rural economy.
Minister for Municipal Administration K.N. Nehru on Tuesday said the State government proposed to conduct elections to cooperative societies after verifying the genuineness of members attached to the societies.
Speaking at the 71st Cooperative Week celebrations here, he said the cooperative elections were conducted during the previous tenure of the DMK government. Representatives were elected to all posts of the societies. The previous government too conducted elections to cooperative societies. However, people knew well how the elections were conducted.
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had given instructions to check the list of members to find out if they were genuine or fake, he added.
Highlighting the contribution of cooperative societies to nation-building, Mr. Nehru said the cooperative banks, Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Societies and other societies were the backbone of rural economy, which mainly revolved around agriculture and allied activities. They were extending real services to farmers on many aspects. Farmers could avail loan without submitting documents. There was a period when crop loans were offered with 7% to 9% rate of interest. No interest was charged now if the farmers promptly repaid the loan within the stipulated time. Fertilizers were supplied to farmers at a lower cost than in the open market.
Out of about 4,900 Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Societies, Mr. Nehru said that about 1,500 societies were in good financial condition. Others depended upon the financial assistance of the State government.
The Minister presented prizes to the best performing societies in the district. He also distributed loans to the tune of ₹15 crore 684 beneficiaries.
Earlier, Minister for School Education Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi visited the stalls set up by various cooperative societies.
