Abstract
Continuous famine, usurious practices of money lenders and the prevalent exploitation of tillers during the later part of the nineteenth century caused indebtedness, distress, and discontent among the farmers in India. The ruling British believed that such precarious conditions would cause damages to the Indian economy. At this outset, Lord Wenlock, the then Governor of Madras Presidency, appointed Sir Frederick Nicholson in March 1892 to examine the possibility of organizing Land and Agricultural Banks in the Madras Presidency. Based on the report of Sir Frederick Nicholson, Edward Law Committee was appointed. Accepting the recommendations of the Law Committee, the first Cooperative Societies Act was enacted on March 25, 1904. The scope of the 1904 Act was confined to organizing primary credit cooperative societies only.
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- 1.
The 1904 Act provided for constitution of societies, eligibility for membership, registration, and liabilities on members, disposal of profits, shares, and interests of members, privileges of societies, claims against members, audit, inspection and enquiry, dissolution, exemption from taxation and rule making power. All other operational and managerial issues were left to the local governments namely to formulate suitable rules and model by-laws of the cooperative societies. The institution of the Registrar, visualized as a special official mechanism to be manned by officers with special training and appropriate attitudinal traits to prompt and catalyze cooperative development was the result of the Cooperative Societies Act of 1904. (The Report of the High Powered Committee on Cooperatives 2009).
- 2.
The web-page where the amendment can be found: http://india.gov.in/govt/documents/amendment/amend97.pdf.
- 3.
Part V, Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act deals with the “Application of the Act to the Cooperative banks”. Refer http://www.lawsindia.com/Advocate%20Library/C22.htm. Retrieved on 4, June 2012.
- 4.
http://www.cdf-sahavikasa.net/Rural%20Producers%20Company%20Act%202002.pdf. Retrieved on 4, June 2012.
- 5.
http://agricoop.nic.in/coopact02/multistate.htm. Retrieved on 4, June 2012.
- 6.
http://www.chennaiunion.coop/act-rules/MSCSRules2002.pdf. Retrieved on 4, June 2012.
- 7.
http://www.nabard.org/departments/departmentforrivalsreforms_task_force.asp. Retrieved on 4, June 2012.
- 8.
The minimum number of individual members is only 25 to form a cooperative society in Kerala under the Kerala Cooperative Societies Act, 1969.
- 9.
Section 10 of the Act speaks in detail the content of by-laws (or bye-laws as they are referred to therein), which should be consistent with the provisions of this act, and the rules made therein.
- 10.
Every person is competent to contract who is of the age of majority. The Indian Majority Act 1875 states that every person domiciled in India shall attain the age of majority on his completing the age of 18 years and not before. In addition, every person who is of sound mind, and is not disqualified from contracting by any law to which he is subject is competent to contract.
- 11.
The Kerala Cooperative Societies Act, 1969 has a proviso to elect one board member from among the member depositors.
- 12.
In this regard, the 97th constitutional amendment came up with a new direction that the election of a board shall be conducted before the expiry of the term of the board so as to ensure that the newly elected members of the board assume office immediately on the expiry of the office of members of the outgoing board. Further, it States that the superintendence, direction, and control of the preparation of electoral rolls for, and the conduct of, all elections to a cooperative society shall vest in such an authority or body, as may be provided by the legislature or parliament by law. Even before the constitutional amendment, the State of Kerala has formed a state election commission and detailed rules for conduct of election to the cooperatives.
- 13.
Sections 341 and 342 of Indian Constitution clarify the people who could be brought under the category of schedule caste or scheduled tribe. The President by notification specify the castes, races or tribes or parts of or groups within the castes, races or tribes as Schedule caste. The President by notification specifies the tribes, tribal communities, parts of, or groups within the tribes or tribal communities as scheduled tribe.
- 14.
Charted Accountant means a person who is a member of the Institute of Charted Accountants of India constituted under the Act.
- 15.
Register of application for registration of multi-state cooperative societies received by the central registrar.
- 16.
Here the federal cooperative society denotes the national cooperative societies whose mandate is to develop the cooperative movement.
- 17.
http://business.gov.in/taxation/co_operative_societies.php. Retrieved on 24, July 2012.
- 18.
Essential Bibliography
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Henrÿ H (1998) Framework for cooperative legislation. International Labor Office. http://www.ilo.org/public/libdoc/ilo/1997/97B09_433_engl.pdf. Retrieved on 6 September 2012
Henrÿ H (2005) Guidelines for cooperative legislation. International Labour Office. http://www.ilo.org/public/libdoc/ilo/2005/105B09_405_engl.pdf. Retrieved on 6 September 2012
Mohannan PN (2011) The cooperative societies laws in Kerala. Swamy Law House, Ernakulam
Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act (2002) National Cooperative Union of India, New Delhi
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Münkner H-H (2006) One hundred years: co-operative credit societies act in India – a unique experience of legal social engineering, University of Marburg. http://www.aruc-es.uqam.ca/Portals/0/cahiers/C-04-2006.pdf. Retrieved on 24 July 2012
Ninety-seventh Constitutional Amendment of Government of India (2012) http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/amend/amend97.pdf. Retrieved on 24 July 2012
Report of the High Powered Committee on Cooperatives (2009) Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, New Delhi. http://agricoop.nic.in/cooperation/hpcc2009new.pdf. Retrieved on 24 July 2012
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Acknowledgements
The author would like to express his gratitude to Mr. B. Pandiyan, Retired Additional Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Tamilnadu State, for his comments.
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Veerakumaran, G. (2013). India. In: Cracogna, D., Fici, A., Henrÿ, H. (eds) International Handbook of Cooperative Law. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30129-2_20
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