National Council for Cooperative Training(NCCT) organized Training Programme on Financial Management–Accounting principles and procedures from 20th to 26th May, 2013 at its Head Quarters, New Delhi.

The programme was inaugurated by the Dr. A.K. Bhutani IAS, Joint Secretary and Central Registrar Cooperative Societies, Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India. Other dignitaries invited for this programme was Shri Avinash Chander, Technical Director, Institute of Charted Accounts of India, New Delhi.

Dr. Dinesh, Director General, NCCT and Shri Mohan Kumar Mishra, Secretary, NCCT, were also present on the occasion. The program was attended by NCCT staff posted at training units (20 nos.)spread across the state capitals in India. The basic purpose of this programme was to enhance the efficiency of the Accounts keeping staff.

In the beginning of the programme Shri Mohan Kumar Mishra, Secretary, NCCT welcomed all the dignitary and delegates on this occasion and briefed them about the need for enhancing financial management at its unit level. Dr.N.Ranjana Devi, Director (P) presented a Power point Presentation on functions of NCCT.

Shri.Avinash Chander, Technical Director, ICAI, New Delhi addressed the participants emphasizing the correct presentation of Financial aspect of Business transactions in the Books of Accounts.

Dr.A.K.Bhutani, IAS, Joint Secretary (Cooperation) and Central Registrar Cooperative Societies, Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India in his inaugural address emphasized on the important of financial data post latest constitutional amendment in the interest of the real service to members of the Cooperatives.

Dr.Dinesh, Chief Executive, National Cooperative Union of India, Director General NCCT New Delhi, in his presidential address explained the need of organization of such programmes and further assured the government of India for efficient financial administration in the cooperative sector functioning. The vote of thanks was presented by Shri B.S.Rohilla, Director (Finance), NCCT to the all present.

Despite catering to the needs of nearly one billion people worldwide, cooperatives have failed to elicit matching response from the governments, said Dr Dinesh, Chief Executive of National Cooperative Union of India.

Dr Dinesh was, however, unsatisfied with the over-all performance of the cooperatives in India. Our International year of Cooperative pledge reads;“Cooperative enterprises build better world”. But how could we keep this pledge without professionalizing the cooperative team?

The relation of cooperative members to the cooperatives operating in Indian villages is restricted to getting a sack or two of fertilizers, seeds or other such requirements. He is not involved in its operations. There is no professional way of doing business, he lamented.

Unless the PACS become a whole game that survive on their own and conduct business through professional expertise, the slogan “cooperative builds better world” would sound hollow, he said in a frank chat with Indian Cooperative.

Mentioning America as an example, Dr Dinesh said 97 percent of the US’s energy needs are met through cooperatives. In Singapore majority of fair price shops are run through cooperatives, he added.

He felt that the government of India is ignoring the role of cooperatives for economic growth of the country. The absence of word “cooperative” in the five year plans for two consecutive terms comes as a shock to him.

If nuclear power could be generated by government and salt by TATAs why not allow cooperatives in the agricultural field where it is already doing 50 percent of the business, Dr Dinesh asked.

Over a judicious use of Education Fund, National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) and the largest farmers’ cooperative IFFCO are once again at loggerheads. The Education Fund Committee that met sometime back diverted a sum of Rs 2 crore for the purpose of renovating the auditorium which hosts most of cooperative as well as non-cooperative functions.

IFFCO dissented and said that cooperative education fund, as the name shows, should be used for education and training and not for any other purpose, no matter how important.

Talking to Indiancooperative.com, Dr G N Saxena, Director of cooperative Development at Iffco animatedly argued that two proposals were before the Committee- one of starting the printing press lying in a shambles for some time and second, of renovating the auditorium.

While the first proposal was rejected outright, the second was discussed threadbare. I, being a member of the Committee objected to the idea of diverting a sum from Education Fund. Mr R K Tiwary, Central Registrar is also believed to have opposed the idea.

But Financial Advisor Mr Agnihotri, one of the two government nominees other than the Central Registrar is said to have supported the idea of diverting money to renovation.

Talking to the Indiancooperative.com Dr Dinesh, Chief Executive and DG of NCCT defended the decision of Committee and said that the auditorium is very much a part of education and training and given its bad condition, something needed to be done urgently. The air conditioners, chairs and other facilities cry for immediate attention, he added.

But Dr Saxena differed. “The auditorium is given on lease to a private party and it is using it for commercial purposes. How can the Education Fund which is being contributed by farmers in a way, be diverted for commercial gains of a third party”, he asked?

In the seven member Education Committee, NCUI has a majority and could get its agenda passed. The members from NCUI are President, DG of NCCT and head of Vaikunth Mehta, say insiders.

There are two members from Multi State Cooperative Societies and they are Iffco and Saraswat Bank. Due to medical problems, Saraswat Bank Chairman Eknath Thakur could not make it to the meeting.

There are two government nominees-the Central Registrar and the Financial Advisor. With the government nominees more often than not being absent, it is cakewalk for NCUI, said a source. However, both the govt nominees were present in the last meeting. These are quarterly meetings.

A cash-starved NCUI has more than Rs 330 crore lying in the Education Fund and the issue of diversion of fund keeps cropping once in a while.

Harnessing the “Cooperative Advantage to Build a Better World” was the theme of a workshop organized by United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Division for Social Policy and Development recently in Ethiopia.

The workshop was attended by three illustrious cooperative personalities from India- Dr Dinesh, Chief Executive of NCUI, Dr G N Saxena, Director Cooperative Development at Iffco, and Lalita
Krishnaswamy from SEWA.

Dr Dinesh was acting as an expert while Mrs Krishnaswamy presented her views on how to create and maintain a successful cooperative. SEWA is indeed a living example of this.

Dr Saxena who lectured three times during the two-day conference told Indian Cooperative that what cooperatives could do for local area development, corporates cannot even dream of. The cooperative model is usually small and involves the participation of local people. The local populace constitutes its market. Thus you have a system which is self-contained and self-sustaining, Saxena added.

Dr Saxena expounded at length the difference between Corporate and Cooperative and cited the factors such as outward flow of fund, invasion of local climate and selfishness in the case of corporates.

The workshop was excellent and we remained pushed into the seminar-hall without any break till evening. There was no sight-seeing and it was business and business alone, remarked Dr Dinesh, Chief Executive of NCUI. “We need to inculcate UN culture in our country where seminars and workshops often degenerate into casual exercises”, he lamented.

A high powered team comprising of President of National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) and Chief Executive met Union Agricultural Minister Sharad Pawar on Thursday to solicit his help on a host of issues including holding seminar for popularization of Constitution amendment bill that enshrines right to form a cooperative into the list of Fundamental Rights.

Talking to Indian Cooperative NCUI Chief Executive said “We met Sharad Pawarji and sought his gracious presence on the occasion of national seminar for implementation of historic amendments in the states. He was kind enough to accept our invitation”.

The seminar has been scheduled for October 12 in N Delhi and participants from states have been invited.

“We are going to invite State cooperative Ministers, Registrars of cooperatives of states, Chairmen and Managing Directors of cooperative bodies. The idea is to give impetus to necessary changes in State’s laws so that the provisions of cooperative amendment act, 2009 are implemented in the states sooner than later”, said Dr Dinesh.

The Constitution (111th) Bill, 2009 also accorded right to set up a specialised agency on the lines of the Election Commission which can conduct elections of the cooperative societies.

If implemented faithfully the bill would usher in an era of professionalization and democratization thereby strengthening the cooperative movement. But state governments have not shown any interest even after the passage of the historic bill more than six months back.

The important provisions of bill include (1) Right to form cooperatives is a fundamental right(2) Cooperatives could set up agencies which would oversee elections (3) Uniformity in the tenure of Cooperative Board of Directors and (4) provisions for incorporation, regulation and winding up of co-operative societies based on the principles of democratic member-control, member-economic participation and autonomous functioning.

There are many states notable among them being Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra where elections in cooperatives have not been held for years. There are cases as in Uttar Pradesh and Odisha where the new political regimes sack the elected boards to suit their expediency.

Cooperators have been demanding constitution of a task force by NCUI to oversee the adoption of the amendment bill by the states. NCUI is alive to its job now!

The declining GDP and depressing economic indicators have taken a toll on the cooperative movement of India. After a long and arduous bargain with the government, National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) did get some fund but not enough to make it worry-free.

The Ministry letter reaching the NCUI lays emphasis on resource-generation on the part of the apex cooperative organization. It exhorts the NCUI to stand on its feet and generate its own fund.

Talking to Indian Cooperative, the NCUI Chief Executive Dr Dinesh said “I am leaving for Hyderabad soon to meet our ICMs and deliberate on the possibilities of generating fund”.

Dr Dinesh informed that he would be visiting most of the areas where the ICMs are located and field projects are running to see how we could be self-reliant.

When Indian Cooperative contacted President of the NCUI Dr Chandra Pal Singh Yadav he said we are meeting Union Minister Sharad Pawar on Friday to impress on him the necessity of the governmental support for the NCUI at this stage.

The government asks us to use corpus fund. We got a study conducted by IRMA, the prestigious body of Rural Management and it concluded we should not touch the corpus fund at this stage.

Some years ago a corpus fund of Rs 100 crore was created that included contributions from both the government and the NCUI. The amount has grown to Rs 330 crore. The IRMA Study revealed that it is safe to use this corpus fund once the amount gets as high as Rs 500 crore, said Chandra Pal.

“We request the government either to support us till the amount grows to Rs 500 crore or donate us another Rs 150 crore to take this amount to a magical figure of Rs 500 crore. We would not bother the government after that”, President asserted.

Agriculture Ministry, in its letter on fund release says that the NCUI has to support NCCT fully.

The ministry conceded only 50 percent of the Field Projects’ expenditure from its coffer too.

The government has directed the NCUI to make up the remaining amount partly from the corpus fund and partly from the resources the NCUI could generate itself.

“The amount we pay to those involved in the projects is so measly that keeping them motivated is a big challenge for us’, said Dr Dinesh.

Earlier, President of the NCUI gave up administrative and financial powers to meet the ministry’s pre-condition for releasing the fund.

NCUI President finally gave in and wrote to the Union Agriculture Secretary a letter for which the agricultural ministry had been tightening the screws on the apex cooperative organization for more than a year.

In his letter NCUI President Chandra Pal Singh Yadav has agreed to cede administrative and financial powers.

Talking to the Indian Cooperative Chief Executive of NCUI, Dr Dinesh confirmed that the letter had been sent but when asked to divulge its content he stalled saying “I have not seen what he has written. It’s a matter between him and the Ministry. So far as I am concerned I will continue to work under the guidance of the Governing Council and the President”.

However, readers could recall the words expressed by Dr Dinesh only a week ago. He had talked about the breaking of the ice between NCUI and the Ministry in an interview given to Indian Cooperative.

Last week meeting was indeed crucial, as Indian Cooperative had informed its readers. It was in this meeting when Chandra Pal decided to cede powers in order to deliver NCUI from a financial bind it found itself in for a long time.

According to sources, the plight of NCUI field project staff that had been without salary for months compelled Chandra Pal to change his mind. Chandra Pal in his meeting with the Union Minister Sharad Pawar had sought his intervention in easing pressure on the staff. Taking advantage of the compulsions of his situation, the ministry babus asked him to sign a piece of paper committing him to relinquishing his powers. When he had returned to his office at Siri Fort Road he knew he had lost it.

It is a matter of time now that funds would start flowing, informed one of the directors at NCUI. But what passes one’s comprehension is the abject genuflection of the highest cooperative body before the imperious govt babus.

On a number of occasions earlier, the issue of abandoning powers had been resisted in the meetings of the Governing Council as it held the elected heads were paramount.

But Ministry’s constant pressure coupled with the arm-twisting tactics of withholding funds compelled the President to bend. And the conditions of the field staff only added to his helplessness.

He won so far as NCUI’s immediate future is concerned but he lost in terms of the future of the cooperative movement.

This experience teaches a lesson too that if you wish to stand up to the babus you have to be economically viable. The cooperative movement that comprehends the entire world is not a product of governmental efforts but an achievement of the people at large.

An important meeting between the President of National Cooperative Union of India Chandra Pal Singh Yadav and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar took place in the afternoon of Wednesday. While Pawar was assisted by the new Agriculture Secretary Bahuguna (who has replaced P K Basu) and Joint Secretary, Chandra Pal had Chief Executive Dr Dinesh on his side.

Talking to Indian Cooperative about the meeting Dr Dinesh said that it was a “meeting with a difference” in which free exchange of ideas took place. “While we presented our case and requested for continued support from the government I was happy to note that the Minister is no less seized of the matter”, said Dr Dinesh.

On the query if the fund for field projects would be made available now Dr Dinesh said that regular interaction is important and today the ice has been broken. We can expect some concrete development in a matter of week.

Readers could recall that government has stopped aid to the NCUI for training and education programmes leading to fund-crunch at the apex cooperative organization. Several people working in various field projects across states of the country at a meager salary have not got their salaries for past many months.

According to Dr Dinesh NCUI President Chandra Pal Singh made a very strong presentation on the conditions of field officers before the Minister. He detailed the woes being felt by the field officers and their families.

Ministry has asked us to reform our working and we informed the Minister about the various steps such as new recruitment and promotions policies that have been set in motion in NCUI, Chief Executive informed Indian Cooperative.

When Indian Cooperative asked if the Minister insisted on cutting down the power of Governing Council of NCUI as a pre-condition for releasing fund, Dr Dinesh cleverly skirted the subject.

Readers could recall that government had insisted on divesting executive power from the President and GC. It had suggested that Governing Council should bother itself only with policy matter and growth of cooperative movement in the country. The NCUI’s Board had rejected it leading to stand-off between the two.

Wednesday meeting between NCUI and Ministry took place after a long time and has thrown up a beacon of hope for the survival of apex Cooperative.

It is a wake-up call to the President of NCUI Dr Chandra Pal Singh Yadav as his detractors are working overtime to dislodge him from power in the wake of arbitrator ruling against his election to the post.

According to some of the directors who confided to Indiancooperative.com on condition of anonymity, a storm is brewing quietly in NCUI’s corridors after the arbitrator ruled against the incumbent President.

Readers could recall that one Rajendra Sharma of Himachal Pradesh had challenged Chandra Pal Singh accession to President-ship in the court of the government appointed Arbitrator. Mr Manjhi, the arbitrator ruled against the incumbent President.Later Mr Chandra Pal Singh filed petition against the ruling in the court, hearing for which is scheduled on 18th of April.

Many directors who were till now on the sidelines, nurse the ambition of occupying centre-stage. But they are wary of coming out openly in public lest their move should back-fire. They are bidding their time.

What unnerve them somewhat are the utterances by Mr V P Singh in support of the President. An advocate and a member of Governing Council Mr Singh is said to have told that the case against the incumbent President is very weak and stay against the ruling is a certainty.

Chandra Pal’s detractors cite postponement of the meeting of Governing Council on 26th March a sign of his weakness.
Talking to Indiancooperative.com on condition of anonymity, one of the members of the governing council said the next date of meeting has been chosen conveniently on 19th April as hearing in the court on the ruling is scheduled a day before on 18th April.
‘Chandra Pal wishes to face the Board with a positive verdict in his hand from the Court”, he said.

But President’s opponents point out postponement as violation of NCUI’s bye-law which mandates quarterly meetings. When Indiacooperative.com contacted the Chief Executive Dr Dinesh on the issue he laughed off the matter saying “these are trivial issues and owing to a host of insignificant reasons the date of meeting has been extended”.

The start of the twelfth five year plan is giving jitters to National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI). Will it get fund or will it not is a big question haunting NCUI so far. With its political leadership in shambles and a Chief Executive who is hardly a veteran of cooperative affairs, the future of NCUI is indeed at stake.

Owing to a number of reasons the Union Agriculture and Cooperation Ministry is not favourably disposed towards the apex organization. It is the recommendation of Union Agriculture Ministry to the Planning Commission which decides the size of the cake. There is apprehension among NCUI officials of not getting any cake at all.

Ministry has stopped 12 central schemes in non-cooperative sector so far. It has also merged several schemes together to curb expenditure. NCUI has so far defended its project and training schemes from either closure or merger. But will it be able to do so for long, even the Chief Executive is not confident.

Planning Commission has to send its recommendation to NDC meeting scheduled sometime next fortnight. It is here that the future of NCUI projects and that of NCUI would be discussed. If the Agricultural Ministry champions the cause of apex cooperative strongly, NCUI would come out unharmed otherwise only God could save it from extinction.

Babus of Ministry have antipathy towards NCUI. Agricultural Secretary Mr P K Basu is said to view cooperative organizations as parasites which depend on government for nourishment and do nothing on their own. Our cooperative leaders have failed to impress upon them the benefits of cooperative movement if it is implemented with purity of purpose. The states of Bihar, Chattisgarh and Orissa are living examples.

Cooperative-aided paddy procurement this year has yielded handsome return to farmers whose faith in farming and cooperatives have strengthened by the novel experience.

Encouraged by the results Chattisgarh government has decided to build grain godown in each primary agricultural cooperative society of the state. Our Union Agricultural Minister Sharad Pawar has often toyed with this kind of idea but with little results so far.

The pessimism of bureaucracy and its political masters, it is feared, would sabotage the cooperative movement. You may change leaders, you may change bylaws or even its constitution but you cannot deface NCUI from the cooperative landscape of the land. We need an apex cooperative organization like NCUI to guide and goad people towards a vision which was so dear to our first visionary Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru.

“Don’t’ throw out the baby with the bath water”, warns the ancient. Hope Ministry’s bureaucrats are listening.