Experts suggest KMC cancel registration of 900 cooperatives

BYA STAFF REPORTER,Kathmandu, June 2: Cooperatives experts have suggested to cancel registrations of approximately 900 cooperatives that did not come in contact with the Kathmandu Metropolitan City despite specifying the metropolis as working area.

They made such statement at a programme ‘Research and Investigation for Cooperative Upliftment’ organised by the KMC’s Cooperatives Department in Kathmandu on Saturday. 

According to Balaram Tripathi, head of the KMC’s Cooperatives Department, cooperatives with a turnover of up to Rs. 250 million are regulated by the local levels, cooperatives with a turnover between Rs. 250 million and Rs. 500 million are regulated by the provincial level and cooperatives with turnover of more than Rs. 500 million are regulated by the federal level in accordance with the Cooperatives Act.

The act allows cooperatives to be merged, divided and closed based on the decision of the general assembly and the action of the regulatory body.

Department head Tripathi informed that the metropolis was forming a committee to manage problematic cooperatives.

At the programme, cooperatives expert Kashi Raj Dahal suggested for registration cancelation of those cooperatives which did not respond to the metropolis. He said, “If cooperatives do not respond to letters, a public notice should be issued in the name of cooperatives operators calling them to come in contact. If they do not respond to the notice, the metropolis should proceed for the registration cancellation.” 

According to the Cooperatives Department, only 968 cooperatives were updated by the end of the last fiscal year out of 1,923 cooperatives within the jurisdiction of the metropolis. 

Participants said that the only solution to the problems caused by such cooperatives was to give an opportunity to counter through public notice and start the process of registration cancellation if they do not come in contact. 

There are about 32,000 cooperatives in Nepal. Of them, 146 are under the federal government and about 19 per cent are under the provincial governments. Similarly, approximately 80 per cent of the cooperatives are within the regulatory jurisdiction of the local governments. 

Meanwhile, Madhes government tracked non-responsive cooperatives. The Rising Nepal correspondent Vijayakumar Sah writes from Dhalkebar that the Madhes Province government has initiated efforts to locate cooperative organisations that have become unresponsive. 

The Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture, and Cooperatives of Madhes Province has commenced the search for such cooperative entities and has issued a notice spanning 35 days to prompt these unresponsive cooperatives to make contact.

According to Ministry statistics, 782 registered cooperatives in Madhes Province have ceased communication. These cooperatives have failed to submit reports for the past six years. The notification further warns that non-responsive cooperatives will face punitive measures.

Sunil Thapa, Branch Officer of the Ministry's Land Management, Administration, and Cooperative Development Division, explained that the search targeted cooperatives that neglected to renew their registration or provide regular updates to the ministry.

During the initial monitoring phase across four districts, 310 cooperative societies were identified as non-responsive, with 121 in Siraha, 94 in Saptari, 56 in Dhanusha, and 39 in Mahottari. Subsequently, in the second monitoring phase, 472 cooperatives were found uncontactable, including 85 in Parsa, 112 in Bara, 83 in Rautahat, and 192 in Sarlahi.

It has been decided that cooperatives operating within a single municipality would fall under municipal jurisdiction, while those spanning multiple municipalities or districts would come under provincial government oversight. Following the implementation of the Cooperatives Act 2017 by the federal government, 822 cooperative organizations were transferred under the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives by the Madhes Province government.

Cooperative organizations are required to submit monthly reports to the Cooperative Development Division under the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture, and Cooperatives. Failure to comply with this requirement results in exclusion from the COPOMIS system.

The provincial government enacted the Provincial Cooperative Act in October 2022 and the Cooperative Regulations in February 2080, both of which have been enforced. Branch Officer Thapa disclosed that monitoring efforts revealed that 782 cooperatives had remained unresponsive for an extended period.

Of the 822 cooperatives transferred to the province, only 215 currently submit monthly reports regularly. Additionally, only 50 cooperatives are consistent in their submission of details to the COPOMIS system.