State gets a co- operation election commission

MUMBAI: In a move that will rein in politicians controlling the cooperative sector, which forms the backbone of rural politics in many parts of the state, the government has set up an independent co- operation election commission to conduct polls in such bodies.

The decision was mandated by the 97th constitutional amendment of the Centre that aims at bringing transparency and autonomy to the co-operative sector. The cooperative sugar mills and banks are important for rural economy in Maharashtra and hence controlling them gives tremendous leverage to the politicians, especially from the ruling Congress and Nationalist Congress Party.

Domination of a s ug ar co- operative or a co- op bank ensures the loyalty of lakhs of member farmers of the area The elections to these bodies have been intensely fought in the past, with reports of use of both muscle and money power.

With these elections now under the ambit of an independent election commission, they are expected to be fair and more representative

At 2.5 lakh, the state has the largest chunk of co- operative societies, with the tenure of nearly 20,000 societies ending soon. “The commission will be set up after Diwali, and will have to soon oversee elections of 20,000 societies. Returning officers will be appointed in each case,” said Rajgopal Devara, secretary, co-operation department.

The commission will also oversee the elections of big cooperative housing societies with over 100 members. Those with less than 100 members can conduct elections on their own, but disputes or complaints in such polls can be addressed by the commission