KATHMANDU: The work of the parliamentary committee formed to investigate the embezzlement of cooperatives’ savings has been delayed due to the lack of updated data on business activities of cooperatives.

One month after its formation, the committee on Wednesday decided to request documents from nine cooperative organizations under investigation and details of a loan given to the Gorkha Media Network.

Committee Chairman Surya Thapa stated that they have written to the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives, and Poverty Alleviation to provide the necessary documents and loan details.

"We have written to the Federal Ministry of Cooperatives for the necessary documents and data," said Chairman Thapa. "The ministry will coordinate with the relevant agencies and provide the data quickly."

The committee, formed on May 28, has the mandate to investigate nine additional institutions besides the 20 already declared problematic cooperatives. It has requested reports from the last annual general meeting, audit reports, details of the board of directors, audit supervision committee reports, and other relevant information from the cooperatives, excluding those already declared problematic.

Six of the nine cooperatives from which the committee has demanded details from are associated with GB Rai, who is also the chairman of Gorkha Media Network. The committee was formed after the Nepali Congress demanded a parliamentary inquiry, alleging that Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Ravi Lamichhane, who is the managing director of Gorkha Media Network, had withdrawn money from various cooperatives in his name.

The cooperatives connected with Rai and Gorkha Media Network include Swarnalakshmi in Kathmandu, Sahara in Chitwan, Sano Paila in Birgunj, Suryadarshan in Pokhara, Supreme in Butwal, and Parity Savings and Loan Cooperative in Nepalgunj. Of these, only Swarnalakshmi in Kathmandu is under the federal government, while the others fall under local and state governments. Additionally, Ideal Yamuna Multi-Purpose Cooperative is under the federal government, Sumeru Savings and Loan Cooperative in Lalitpur is under Bagmati Province, and Image Savings and Loan Cooperative in Baglung is under Gandaki Province.

According to sources in the Department of Cooperatives, collecting data on most of the cooperatives requested by the committee is challenging.

An official stated that they have some data about organizations that are currently facing police complaints and where cases are ongoing, while gathering information on other cooperatives is difficult.

"The government does not currently have data on the status of cooperatives," said the official, adding, "We will collect the data from the relevant regulatory bodies and organizations, but it is quite challenging to do so."

To implement federalism in 2018, the government transferred the records of cooperatives to the local level based on their scope of work. Since then, there has been no updated information about the status of the cooperatives. The Cooperative Information System, intended to organize cooperatives’ data and on which the federal government has spent millions, has not been effective.

Following the transfer of records, the Department of Cooperatives collected data in collaboration with the seven provinces and local levels from July to October 2020 but has not been able to update it since.

When investigation agencies request information about cooperatives, it is provided by the regulatory agencies and organizations at the relevant level. However, sources indicate that record management at the provincial and local levels is disorganized. The unorganized data undermines the effectiveness of the monitoring, studies, research, and planning undertaken by the concerned bodies.