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'Govt has failed to get desired results from co-op societies'

RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: The Punjab government has not been successful in achieving desired results from the concept of registered co-operative societies in the province, because of its ill-planning and corrupt practices on part of its functionaries.

This was observed by Aamir Hayat Khan Rokhri, president, and Khalida Saeed, secretary general of Punjab Co-operative Union, while addressing a news conference here on Monday. They said that main objective of the concept of cooperative societies was the welfare of the poor and the low-income groups, but the same could not be achieved due to non-serious attitude of the successive governments.

They said that Punjab Cooperative Union was formed in 1998 and its purpose was to promote the growth of co-operation and of cooperative business. It is like an NGO, but is not funded by any local or foreign agency. It generates funds through its own resources, they clarified.

"It provides a forum to all its member cooperative societies, spreading all over the province at district level, to apprise the government of their problems and proposals for growth and development of the cooperative movement," Aamir Rokhari said.

He said that the union is consulted by the Punjab government as well as by other agencies and institutions, relating to the development of the cooperative movement in the province. It renders services to its member organisations in many ways, i.e., furnishes news about cooperative activities, helps them, train their staff, holds seminars on the subjects of cooperative credits, farming, marketing, consumer supplies etc. It also propagates cooperative principles and methods among the institutions as well as the general public.

The president of the union said that in the past the union also used to send its representatives abroad on the request of 'International Cooperative Alliance' and other such well-reputed organisations for training. However, the function was discontinued due to lack of funds.

He said that lack of funds stands in the effective functioning of the union and added that there is a lot of need for expansion of its activities and infuse democratic spirit in the functioning of the cooperative societies at the grassroot level.

"But this is possible only when the government allocates sufficient funds to the union to achieve its aims and objectives which pertain to the public welfare," he said.

The government should also take serious steps to eliminate nepotism and favoritism while registering such societies, and the welfare of the common people should be its prime aim, he said.