November 16: The directors of cooperatives will have to submit their property details soon. The Department of Cooperatives has issued instructions to the board of directors and managers of cooperatives to submit their property details.

The department has sought for the property details of the directors of the cooperatives under its jurisdiction as per the recommendation of the Cooperative Sector Reform Suggestion Task Force formed under the leadership of National Planning Commission member Jayakanta Raut.

According to a notice issued by the department, the board of directors, managers and the members of the accounting supervision committee of cooperatives must submit their property details along with relevant documents to the department by mid-December.

The department has instructed the cooperatives under its regulatory jurisdiction to implement the recommendations of the task force and maintain good governance in the cooperative sector. The notice mentions that all cooperatives should issue a white paper containing the financial details including liabilities, investments and assets of the organization and submit it to the department by mid-December.

Likewise, all the cooperative organizations that deal mainly with savings and loans have been asked to submit a savings return action plan by the mid-April and to return the customers’ savings as per the demand. The same notice further states that all the cooperatives have been instructed to enter the specified details in the government’s database.

The department had instructed the cooperatives to publish a white paper earlier too. Stating that the general public had developed a negative perception towards the cooperatives due to the failure of some organizations to return their savings, the department has adopted a policy of publishing a white paper to reassure them.

The department has adopted a strategy to give more time to the cooperatives to return the savings of the general public by publishing a white paper and making a commitment. Namraj Ghimire, registrar of the department, informed that the directors of the cooperatives, that had received complaints from the members about the non-refund of the savings, were called and asked to publish white paper about the status of the organization and make a commitment with a deadline to return the savings.

Due to lack of liquidity in the financial sector since the beginning of the last fiscal year, some cooperatives have not been able to return the savings of their members. Especially the organizations that invested in real estate, shares and private companies are in crisis as they are unable to return their customers’ savings.

To solve the problem of the cooperatives, the government, had formed the task force under the coordination of NPC member Jayakanta Raut. The committee submitted a report with recommendations to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal a few months ago.

In the report, it has been suggested to the government to return the money of the depositors within mid-April, even if it requires selling the property of the problematic cooperatives and their directors. According to the suggestion of the committee, the responsibility of monitoring problematic cooperatives should be given to the chief district officer.