Karnataka has taken many an initiative to strengthen the cooperative sector including provision of Rs 643 crore for developing the credit coop societies in conformity with the recommendations of the Vaidyanathan Committee.

The state govt  would soon  amend  the  Karnataka  Cooperative Societies Act  1959 to give a leg up  to the cooperative  activities in the state,  said  Chief Minister  Jagdish  Shettar  while addressing   the  zonal  meet  organised by  Krishak  Bharati Cooperative (KRIBHCO).

Besides the Chief Minister,  Zonal meet was attended by Chairman, Vice-Chairman ,Managing Director and a host of Kribhco officials.

Mr Shettar noted over 36 thousand cooperatives have created 1.5 million jobs in the state.

A major portion of sugar production, chemical fertilizer production   and handloom weaving   is being   accomplished by the cooperative sector , chief minister remarked.

Karnataka Milk Federation is presently in crisis as its chairman G.S. Reddy, brother of mining Mafioso and former minister G. Janardan Reddy has been arrested on a charge of bribing a judge to get bail for his brother imprisoned for illegal mining activities.

The Karnataka govt has decided to hold soon a meeting of the KMF board so as to keep the organisation running well, Karnataka minister of cooperation B.J. Puttaswamy told.

The minister, however, refused to spell out the agenda for the board meeting and action his govt. would take against the present chairman languishing in judicial custody in Andhra Pradesh.

The  documents  concerning  the  procurement of cattle feed by the KMF at  a very high cost would be  thoroughly examined and suitable action taken against those involved in the scam, the minister  added.

The minister asserted the govt. had the necessary powers to call a meeting of the federation.

Meanwhile, the Karnatak govt has decided to write off Rs 20,000 loan taken by farmers as the farming community is suffering  all kinds of problems due to drought in the state, the minister noted

The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a monetary penalty of Rupees five Lakh on the Bharath Co-operative Bank Ltd., Bangalore, Karnataka.

The Urban Cooperative Bank was found violating Reserve Bank of India’s instructions on sanctioning/renewing of loans and advances to directors, their relatives and firms/concerns in which the directors are interested.

The Bank is also guilty of suppressing of such information by not reporting the same in the relevant quarterly statement submitted to the Reserve Bank of India and also for furnishing false information to the Inspecting Officer of Reserve Bank.

The Reserve Bank of India had issued a Show Cause Notice to the bank in response to which the bank submitted a written reply.

After considering the facts of the case, the bank’s reply and also personal submissions in the matter, RBI came to the conclusion that the violation was substantiated and warranted imposition of penalty.

Cooperative banks are mostly the whipping horses for Nabard and RBI. But what they do not seem to take into account is the unviable propositions these banks are subjected to. A case in point is Karnataka.

Karnataka Chief Minister said on Thursday that the state has decided to wave loans to the tune of Rs.25000 obtained by farmers from the agri-cooperative societies.

Karnataka has had a deficient monsoon and some portions of the state are already seriously affected by drought.

Talking to the press at Bangalore ,Chief Minister Jagdish Shettar said, his govt.would have to undertake both short term and long term measures to organise relief works. The state govt. has called upon the center to waive loans given to farmers by the nationalised banks.

Well, nationalized banks ever eager to earn profit, may or may not pay heed to CM, cooperative banks have no options and would rather happily help the poor farmers out.

Observers say it is evident from Chief Minister’s remarks that the cooperative bodies would play a role in fighting the difficulties arising out of drought in the state.

Karnataka Cooperation Minister B J Putta Swamy said that even when the cooperative bodies are reeling from their punctured public image, the cooperative banks are doing some useful work.

They are giving loans to farmers without charging any interest on them and the state govt has offered to pay the difference to NABARD.

As the cooperative banks embody the philosophy of mutual cooperation and help, they could work helping the poor and the intermediate class gain basic economic ability.

However, the minister expressed his resolve to improve things in the cooperative sector. He aimed his barbed remarks at the cooperative societies especially the ones in Banglore that have of late been grabbing the screaming headlines for their highly dishonest and illegal activities.

He has asked his officials to prepare a list of such cooperative bodies. He told the press that 21 district cooperative banks and the Kolar district central cooperative bank were defunct as a large number of their loanees had defaulted on their payments.

Sir

We are the Directors of a Multi state co-operative society operating in Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Puducherry. There are 20 Directors in our society and recently nine of Karnataka Directors sent mass resignation to Chairman. Chairman called up and told us that the resignation had not been accepted but nevertheless he sent letter seeking further clarification on the issue of mass resignation.

But after two days Managing Director of the society sent letter stating that the resignations have been accepted. Chairman never called Special AGM to accept the resignation.

Is it legally valid? Can Managing Director accept the Mass resignation?

I C Naik
Directors’ resignations are governed by provisions of Bye Laws of a society concerned. Ordinarily it’s a formality and resignation is effective when received by Society in the office.

If acceptance is communicated it looks good, even if not communicated it comes in to force upon expiry of a time limit fixed in Bye Laws.

There can be no force ” Not to resign individually or enmass.” General Body does elect them but resignation is not an agenda of General Body, Board can fill up casual vacancy arising on resignation for remaining tenure of the director elected by General Body.

Sugar industry sources say low precipitation this year has affected sugar production.  There is   apprehension that the production is likely to fall by a million tonnes. That is to say, the country would be able to have only 25 million tonnes of sugar this year.

Maharashtra and Karnataka are the two leading sugar producing states in the country but low rain has forced them to report reduced production.

However, there is good news that Uttar Pradesh another major sugar producing state is expected to keep up its level of sugar production.

According to official estimates, as there has been planting of sugarcane on a much bigger arcrage this year across the country, there would be no problem meeting the domestic demands for the commodity.

A new experiment in dairy development is in the works in Dharwad in Karnataka.  Dharwar district cooperative milk producers societies union (Damul) is the organization that has begun the experiment. The   latter consists in offering quality milk and milk products on the lowest possible price.

Damul is set to increase its milk collection and processing capacity in the days ahead. It already covers a huge swathe of the state providing milk to consumers at a reasonable price. The company gives milk producers a good price, for good measure.

Modelled on the famous Gujarat Amul , Damul  is known for making available on the market  the popular  brand ‘ nandini’

Damul is also diverting its surplus milk into confectionery producing popular sweets such as Mysore Pak and Dharwrd Peda.

Damul’s great success can be put down to its competitive edge in terms of prices of its various products and a very effective network of venders and selling points claimed its MD.

Damul is technology savvy as it has always been active rationalizing its technological applications. The company has recently set up a series of  milk coolers and chilling  centers  in the areas covered by it.

In a major  breakthrough  , the Bangalore  police have caught four persons including  an accountant of a cooperative society  in connection with the murder of  Mahantesh  an officer  working in the audit  division of the  cooperative department of the Karnataka  government.

It bears recall that Mahantesh had exposed scams and misuse of funds in several cooperative societies.

His brutal murder had provoked national shock and anger including rumblings in the Parliament.

Kiran Kumar the accountant of a cooperative society who had swindled a huge amount of money did not want Mahantesh to audit his accounts and this explained why he got him murdered.

Directed by the court, the Bangalore police had detailed a couple of hundreds of cops to investigate the case. The vehicle used in committing the crime has been seized.

Police sources say Mahantesh’s killing is being investigated from all possible angles and all those involved in it would be brought to justice soon.

Shimoga Milk Federation has been chosen for the Union Energy Ministry’s award for adopting various energy conservation programmes.

The Federation with a membership of 722 milk cooperative unions spread over Shimoga, Chikmagalur, Chitrdurga and Davangere districts with a daily production of 2.10 lakh litres, has adopted several measures to prevent energy loss in chilling and pasteurization.

The award would be presented on December 15.