Kathmandu, January 7
Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Shashi Shrestha has said that the people’s trust has started losing when the cooperatives go beyond the law.
Speaking at the 11th Annual General Meeting of the Nepal Cooperative Journalists Society
(CJN), Minister Shrestha remarked that the cooperatives were not following the cooperative
principles. Stating that the whole cooperative sector has been affected due to misconduct of some cooperatives, she suggested that it would be more appropriate to go for merger than keeping boards of many cooperatives in one house.
”Currently, the condition of cooperatives is weak. Cooperatives have stopped going as per the norms. There is a problem in cooperatives due to non-implementation of good financial governance. This is losing the trust of the people towards cooperatives,” said Minister Shrestha.
Stating that there have been complaints such as the government charging more interest than specified, holding general meetings and not spending as per the Cooperatives Act, and
discriminating in service facilities on the basis of political affiliation, Minister Shrestha said that the lack of good financial governance in cooperatives has eroded the confidence of shareholders. Stating that there is a problem of cooperatives investing more in real estate
business and not focusing on savers, she said that this problem has raised the question of what is the policy or intention.
She also urged the cooperatives to reduce the interest rate as it has recently increased it
contrary to the Cooperatives Act.
”;In the current situation, the problem facing the cooperatives should be solved through other means, not raising interest rates,” she said. As the lower-class people will benefit from the cooperatives, the cooperatives should work to provide services to the lower-class people, ”said Minister Shrestha.
By Karuna Thapa
