The United Thrift and Credit Cooperative Societies Federation of Delhi organized a large-scale protest against the Delhi State Cooperative Department and the cooperative policies of the Delhi government on Monday in which Dinanath Thakur, National President of Sahakar Bharati also participated.
The protest aimed to draw attention to the serious issues facing Delhi’s cooperative institutions, reads a press release sent by the state unit of Sahakar Bharati.
Federation President Sunil Gupta who led the protest said that the Delhi government is neglecting the cooperative sector. Gupta highlighted widespread irregularities and corruption within the department. He pointed out delays in arbitration and loan recovery processes, obstacles in the registration of new cooperative societies, and the limited lending capacity of credit societies. He also mentioned delays in appointing election officers for state-level cooperative institutions, leading to the appointment of administrators instead.
Hundreds of representatives from various cooperative societies also joined the demonstration, along with state-level cooperative institutions and federations in Delhi.
Following the protest, an eight-member delegation from the Federation and Sahakar Bharati met with the Registrar of Cooperative Societies. The Registrar acknowledged the shortage of staff, with only one Deputy Registrar (DR) out of four sanctioned positions and only three bailiffs out of 17 required.
The department has requested the Chief Secretary for staff recruitment. The Registrar assured that a feedback meeting with top cooperative institution representatives would be held every three months to address issues. He also stated that the loan recovery amounts deposited in the department would be transferred to the societies’ accounts within the same month. Efforts are underway to update the portal to streamline the registration process for all types of institutions.
The Registrar also accepted the Federation’s demand to increase the loan limit from the current Rs 2-3 lakhs to Rs 5 lakhs, with orders to be issued soon. Additionally, the appointment of election officers for state-level cooperative institutions will be made within a week of the application date for the elections.
