WE THE PEOPLE
Cooperative Societies have Failed to make any impact in J&K -Part-1
By: Mirror News Service
Srinagar:It is a known veracity that the Cooperative societies are very vital for the economic progress and betterment of any concerned society. The cooperative societies are important in order to help organize mutual benefits. Within a cooperative structured society in its original tribal form, jobs are allocated and resources are exchanged among each other and trading is only done with external communities.
As a matter of fact, now cooperative societies are extremely important in the savings market and for mortgage and professional credit within banks. Cooperative societies are businesses that are set up by a number of individuals with the intention of gaining mutual benefits from them. These societies are important to ensure that everyone who has put an investment into them gets a fair and equal return.
The most common cooperative societies fall into the categories of housing cooperatives, utility cooperatives, agricultural cooperatives, credit unions and cooperative banking and federal or secondary cooperatives.
In the state of Jammu & Kashmir, the cooperative movement has its own rich legacy. Pertinently, the Cooperative Movement in Jammu and Kashmir was first institutionalized in 1913. The Jammu and Kashmir Cooperative Societies Act of 1913 contained the provisions of the Cooperative Credit Societies Act of 1904 and the Cooperative Societies, Act of 1912.
The Act of 1904, which was in operation in rest of India provided for the registration of Credit Societies only and it was amended in 1912, paving the way for the registration of Cooperative Societies in other disciplines as well. In this way the Jammu and Kashmir Cooperative Societies Act of 1913 had no restrictive provision. The legal framework in the State was further updated in 1938 ,1960, 1989, 1999 and 2005.
Cooperative Banks have been an important component of the cooperative movement in our state, but unfortunately over the past few decades, the Cooperative Banks in the Jammu and Kashmir have failed to make any positive development to galvanize the economy of our state towards an era of betterment. As a matter of great concern these banks have until recently failed to make recovery from over 46,800 defaulters worth Rs 155 crores while Jammu Central Cooperative Bank Ltd tops the list with 37,526 defaulters.
These sensational disclosures were recently made by the Minister incharge Cooperatives Dr Manohar Lal Sharma, who honestly admitted in the Upper House of the J&K Legislature that all was not well in the Cooperatives Banks in the State. The Minister while responding to a question of Congress member Abdul Gani Valik,was raised by M Y Taing in the House on his behalf, told that a recovery worth over Rs 155 crores from nearly 46800 defaulters was yet to be effected by the Cooperatives Banks in the State.
It is important to mention that the United Nations General Assembly has declared 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives, highlighting the contribution of cooperatives to socio-economic development, in particular recognizing their impact on poverty reduction, employment generation and social integration.
But, unfortunately the overall picture related to cooperative movement is not all that bright in our part of the world.
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