With the DMK government planning to hold elections to cooperative societies in the State, the authorities concerned have removed the names of nearly 44 lakh “ineligible members” from the rolls of the societies as part of a data purity drive.
A perusal of the district-wise breakdown of the deletions reveals that Thanjavur has borne the brunt of the exercise with around 3.23 lakh deletions, followed by Madurai (2.52 lakh), Salem (2.09 lakh), Tiruchi (2.08 lakh), and Sivaganga (2.03 lakh).
Deletions have been carried out in respect of the dead and those who have become ineligible to remain members. Of those whose names have been deleted, around 18 lakh fall under the category of the dead. An official says the exercise has been going on for about two years. Those who did not furnish their Aadhaar number have also been removed. If they provide their Aadhaar details, their membership could be restored, the official clarifies.
The drive has also been necessitated by the Madras High Court’s directions in view of complaints filed after the last round of elections in 2018. Most of the complaints pertained to violations in the preparation of the voters’ list, such as failure to remove deceased and ineligible voters, non-publication of the list, and duplicate entries, among other issues.
Recently, Minister for Cooperation K.R. Periakaruppan told the media in Erode that elections to the societies would be held after the revision of the electoral roll.
Coming under the jurisdiction of the office of the Registrar of Cooperative Societies (RCS), the bodies, numbering around 7,200, essentially deal with the provision of credit to agriculturists and weaker sections of society. Credit cooperative societies, including primary agricultural credit cooperative societies (PACCS), marketing cooperative societies, and consumer cooperative societies are among them. PACCS alone are 4,454 in number.
More importantly, the societies are running around 34,600 ration shops across the State to ensure the supply of essential commodities to over 2.11 crore ration cardholders. In its response to the proposed National Cooperation Policy, the State government conveyed to the Centre in 2022 that “there is no excessive government control and needless political interference”.
Currently, the cooperative societies have 1.46 crore members. Salem accounts for the highest number of members at 10.8 lakh, followed by Dindigul (7.12 lakh), Cuddalore (6.66 lakh), Tiruchi (5.92 lakh), and Kanniyakumari (5.68 lakh).
In addition to those coming under the RCS, there are cooperative societies under the administrative control of 14 other departments. For example, all types of fishermen or fisherwomen cooperatives come under the control of the commissioner or director of the Fisheries Department.
According to the National Cooperative Database portal (being maintained by the Union Ministry of Cooperation), there are nearly 22,110 State-level societies and 140 multi-State societies in Tamil Nadu. A circular issued by the Election Commission for the State Cooperative Societies in February 2023 put the membership strength at 2.23 crore.
Published - November 25, 2024 05:44 pm IST
