Regulatory authority to monitor cooperatives

NEW DELHI: Government has assured to consider a regulatory authority for cooperative credit societies following demands from cooperatives.
"The government has agreed in principle to constitute a regulatory authority for cooperative credit societies in the country", President of Maharashtra Cooperative Credit Societies Federation Lalit Gandhi told PTI.
The Federation representatives who had a 45-minute meeting presided over by Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi and attended by Minister of State for Finance Anand Rao Adsul, also sought tax exemption for cooperative societies to help tide over their financial problems.
General Secretary of the Federation Kaka Koire said they also urged upon the government to form a Maharashtra State Cooperative Credit Society Deposit Guarantee Corporation to insure the deposits of such societies in the state.
He said the 28,000 cooperative credit societies with cumulative deposits of about Rs 29,000 crore needed to be protected as it involved funds of the poor and needy.
There are about 2.16 crore members in these societies, he said.