Central Government choking Cooperative sector

Central Government choking Cooperative sector

The Central Cooperative Cell of Bharatiya Janata Party launched its own website cooperative.bjp.org on 28th January 2011 which is first among all political parties. The website was launched by Shri Thawar Chand Gahlot, National General Secretary of the party.

Speaking on the first day of the National Executive Meeting of the Central Cooperative Cell in inaugural session Shri Dhananjay Kumar Singh, National Convener, exhorted the delegates representing all states and union territories to aggressively pursue the cooperative movement as the UPA-II government was playing into the hands of the corporate sector to wipe out the cooperative sector.

Shri Thawar Chand Gahlot said, National President Shri Nitin Gadkari has asked me to ensure that we increase our voter base by at least 10 percent. This can be only achieved by aggressively pursuing the cooperative movement,” he said.

Shri Gahlot alerted the attending delegates to the central government’s dangerous move to wipe out large and small cooperative societies by levying direct tax on all cooperative societies from the new fiscal. “There is a standard deduction of Rs 1.6 lakhs but after that the cooperative societies have to pay tax.” It hurts the growth of the cooperative sector, he emphasized.

Another prominent speaker, Shri Murlidhar Rao, national secretary, highlighted the need for progressive and pragmatic political leadership to provide a boost to the cooperatives movement. Numerous laws need to be amended to allow the cooperatives movement to profligate.

Shri Rao said that, “India is the largest private economy in the world. There is no shortage of funds in India although the central or state government may not have funds for development”.

“Household savings (small savings) make for 80 per cent of the economy. Corporate funds account for only 5 per cent,” he asserted, adding that this 80 per cent component needed to be tapped. Cooperative sector makes the most lucrative sector for investment, he said.

Lok Sabha MP Smt Sumitra Mahajan, addressing the delegates said a dangerous trend has begun of merging smaller banks in the cooperative sector into larger banks and urged the All India Cooperative Cell office-bearers to discuss it on an urgent basis and pass a resolution so that party MPs can be asked to oppose it through the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

She emphasized the need for coordination of all cooperative societies at the state and national level so as to enhance the voter base by at least 10 per cent. Teams of 15 to 20 members must fan out all over the country to liaise with the societies and bring the apolitical society members into the BJP party fold.

Shri Mahendra Pandey, Coordinator, all Cells and Morchas of the BJP said it was imperative to begin a mass movement through the Cooperative movement.

He rued the fact that except for Chhatisgarh no other BJP ruled state had even created a list of BJP members in cooperative societies. “Such a list will enable us to identify the apolitical members of the lakhs of cooperative societies who can then be targeted at the personal level. “Identify them and indoctrinate them with the BJP philosophy”, he urged the delegates.

During the post-lunch session Mr Ashok Dabas highlighted the danger of allowing the Multi-State cooperative Societies Act to be passed by the Parliament. He said the provisions of the Act were extremely restrictive and aimed at choking of the cooperative sector.

“The UPA government is in cahoots with the corporate world which is terrified of the Cooperative societies since the latter works at the grassroots level”, he pointed out, adding that huge multinationals and Indian companies alike are eyeing the untapped rural economy as they reach saturation point in the urban sector.