Gujarat : Corruption in cooperative societies on the rise as 598 key posts of auditors and registrars lying vacant

Surat (Gujarat) : Gujarat’s cooperative sector is an important part of the state’s economy. However, the level of corruption appears to be rising with each passing day due to a lack of adequate staff, particularly auditors and registrars for auditing cooperative sector organisations and societies.

An estimated 598 key positions of auditors and registrars in cooperative societies throughout Gujarat have been vacant for a long time. Despite repeated requests to the State Government, nothing has been done to fill the vacancies. The audit of cooperative sector organisations and societies is not performed in a timely and precise manner due to a lack of sufficient staff, resulting in an increase in corruption.

Cooperatives of various types exist in Gujarat, including agricultural cooperatives, credit cooperatives, dairy cooperatives, and others. The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), also known as Amul, is a dairy cooperative based in Gujarat that is one of the largest and most successful in India. The Gujarat State Cooperative Act, 1965, governs the state’s cooperative sector, which is overseen by the Gujarat State Cooperative Union. The sector’s goal is to promote the economic and social well-being of its members while also contributing to the state’s overall development.

Darshan Naik, a cooperative sector leader, has written to Union Minister for Home and Cooperation Amit Shah and Gujarat Cooperation Minister to request that eligible candidates be appointed to vacant cooperative sector positions.

“Cooperative organisations run on a cooperative basis are considered village Kamdenu,” and 81,000 cooperative societies have been formed in Gujarat as a result. Milk societies, irrigation societies, service cooperatives, housing societies, sugar factories, state cooperative banks, district cooperative banks, primary agricultural credit societies, marketing societies, agricultural societies, consumer banks, labour cooperative societies, APMC, and other similar organisations. Hundreds of key positions of auditors and registrars have remained vacant until now, resulting in corruption in cooperative societies,” Naik said.

According to Naik, the registered societies have an annual revenue of more than Rs.2 lakh crores. These societies provide farmers with fertiliser, medicine, and credit at reasonable prices, as well as loans at 0% interest rates through co-operative banks in Gujarat state.

Gujarat cooperative societies earn about 20% of their total profit each year. Furthermore, cooperative societies manage and employ some people in both rural and urban areas, according to Naik.

There are 3 vacancies for Additional Registrar, 9 for Joint Registrar, 59 for Registrar, 185 for Assistant Registrar and Special Auditor, 342 for Clerk OS Auditor, and 245 for Peon.