E-Paper
Cooperatives Department postpones elections to 38,740 cooperative societies due to LS polls
10,763 cooperative societies are yet to complete the election process; and elections of 20,130 societies are pending
The cooperatives department – comprising the commissioner for cooperation and registrar, cooperative societies (CC and RCS) Maharashtra State – has decided to postpone elections to 38,740 cooperative societies till May 31 in the wake of the scheduled Lok Sabha (LS) polls in the country. According to the cooperatives department, as many as 10,763 cooperative societies were otherwise slated to go to polls.
As per the directive issued by the state government, as many as 93,342 cooperative societies are eligible to go to polls out of which, 50,238 cooperative societies have successfully completed their elections by December 31, 2023; 10,763 cooperative societies are yet to complete the election process; and elections of 20,130 societies are pending. In addition to the 2023 pendency, 7,287 cooperative housing societies that have been included in 2024 are yet to complete the election process. A statement issued by the cooperatives department read that elections to all cooperative housing societies have been suspended till May 31 due to the impending LS elections. Due to the LS elections to be held in 2024, the services of the officers/employees of the cooperative department have been acquired by the concerned collector for pre-election work and the posts of officers/employees are vacant at the taluka, district and regional levels of the cooperative department.
Accordingly, in order to carry out the election process of all cooperative societies in the state in a smooth, transparent, and fear-free environment, the state government has decided to postpone elections under section 73 of the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960, to all cooperative societies except those in which the nomination stage has started and those in which the Supreme Court/High Court has ordered elections to be conducted.
