Separate unit to monitor big cooperatives

KATHMANDU, MAY 10 -

The Department of Cooperatives ( DoC ) plans to set up a separate unit to monitor big savings and credit and multipurpose cooperatives having annual transaction of over Rs 50 million.

There are more than 500 such cooperatives operating in the country, according to the department.

Unveiling the Cooperative Sector Strengthening Action Plan here on Thursday, DoC Registrar Kedar Neupane said the permanent body will crosscheck big cooperatives on a regular basis. In a recent monitoring of 133 cooperatives — a majority of them big cooperatives — the DoC had found several anomalies in them.

The DoC said the proposed unit will function under the direct supervision Ministry of Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation (MoCPA), but it will also coordinate with the Finance Ministry and the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). Neupane said the DoC also plans to develop skilled manpower for the specialised monitoring team.

According to Neupane, cooperatives will be classified based on their capital base like the central bank has categorized banks and financial institutions into four categories. “We plan to categorise cooperatives by the end of fiscal year 2013-14,” said Neupane.

The department will also make efforts to amend the existing Act and regulations to strengthen the regulator. The DoC said it will direct district cooperatives offices to monitor the sector at local level.

It will also discourage cooperatives that are involved in transactions with non-members and outside the prescribed working area.

The department also plans to regulate publicity campaigns carried out by cooperatives by fixing proper size and number of hoarding boards. Neupane said they will immediately enforce the provision in coordination with the municipality and other local bodies.

Other measures the department plans include directing all district cooperatives to have their own website by the end of the next fiscal year. “We plan to ensure online networking between the DoC and district cooperatives which will help in effective monitoring,” said Neupane.

The department will enforce the merger directives in the next fiscal year. There are around 27,000 cooperatives across the country and 11,000 of them are savings and credit cooperatives.

The DoC said the work plan has been prepared to comply with the norms set by the the Nepal Interim Constitution-2007, current interim plan, National Cooperative Policy 2013 and the budget.

Source: The Kathmandu Post