Bullying of Sai Swagat Cooperative: Savings were sunk, needy women were sought and appointed as President-Vice President

After being listed as a problematic cooperative, the Cooperative Department of Kathmandu Metropolitan City monitored Sai Swagat Savings and Loan Cooperative on Wednesday. After the cooperative headed by Bharatmani Jangam fell into crisis, a single woman was systematically found and assigned to the cooperative. But during the investigation by the Metropolis and Nepal Police, it was revealed that special planners were trying to escape by making Chantyal the chairman.

Once Jangam used to run the program 'Kaalo Surya' on TV, and that's when he became friends with the then mediaperson Ravi Lamichhane. In 2075, after Ravi needed funds to settle a family dispute, Jangam has already given the information to the monitoring team of the metropolis that he had provided an unsecured loan of 50 lakhs from his own cooperative.

Confirming that he gave the money without collateral, he has also admitted that both parties have done illegal work together. Responding to Kantipur, he said, "Ravi was given money when he said he wanted money, but there was no collateral." Instead, Nikita has been made the vice-president, the position has become a mortgage.

There is a provision in the law to be a co-operative officer and withdraw money by mortgaging the same position, Jangam said, 'Vice-president or any official cannot take a loan himself. so But the main purpose was to take the loan of the cooperative, that's why the vice president was made, but according to the law, this cannot be done. He says that the Chairman/Vice-Chairman of the Working Committee should be responsible for the illegal work and both the debtors.

Jangam says that the sum of Rs. ``25/25 lakhs was taken into the account of both, even if they were to return it in three months, they had to ask again and again when the money did not come. At the time of later repayment, about three and a half lakh damages have also been waived after their request," said Jangam.

Jangam also said that Nikita resigned after paying the cooperative amount and that the resignation was accepted on June 9. But Nikita's statement that he resigned on October 8, 2077 is unconfirmed. When asked why it took about 3 years to accept the resignation, he said, "Resignation is effective only after it is approved by the general assembly." That's why it took a long time.' However, the general meeting was also held on November 12, 2079, while Nikita's resignation was accepted only last June.

In this general meeting held last November, Nimkumari, a poor and single woman, was made the president according to the principle that all others escaped. This cooperative was in crisis due to the tendency of officials to take loans, do unsecured transactions and spend money on their own. According to the

plan to escape, the planners are paid 15,000 per month according to the preliminary investigation of the metropolis where Phakai Phulai Nimkumari is appointed as the president.

Nimkumari came to know about the misappropriation of the savings of the co-operative she was the president of, its managing members absconding and the fact that the police and the metropolitan corporation were investigating the matter only after the news came. "I came to know that your name appeared in the newspaper after others told me, as soon as I heard it, I was shocked," she said. In a conversation with

Kantipur, Nimkumari also opened up about how she became the president of the cooperative. After the death of my husband seven years ago, I was looking for a job because I was struggling to pay for the education of my three children. Become a president, sometimes you have to go to the office. They made me president because I get a monthly salary of 15,000,' she said.

After becoming the president, she also went to the cooperative's office for a few days. But they stopped coming to save in cooperatives, and those who asked for their savings back started running. She stopped going to the office when the directors also started disappearing.

She was asked to give the citizenship of a friend to make her the president, so she gave the citizenship of Bajura's friend Nisha Khadka. Based on this citizenship, Nisha was made the vice president of the cooperative. "She also doesn't know anything like me, she has already reached Dubai for foreign employment," Nimkumari said. Nimkumari, who was made the president of the cooperative in the

paper, said that she did not know anything about the loans flowing from the cooperative and the embezzlement of its property. He is worried that he will have to suffer from the investigation done by the police and the metropolitan corporation regarding the cooperative. Jangam, who is the outgoing president of the

cooperative, said that even he did not receive the 50 lakh rupees he deposited in the cooperative when he became the chairman and he was forced to run for justice. He said that he joined this cooperative because of Ramhari Adhikari. Ramhari was the coordinator of the accounting committee in this cooperative after the general meeting on 28th December 2075. Jangam is the president of the cooperative.

There is a case in the Kathmandu District Court saying that the group including Ram Hari, who drowned Sai Swagat Cooperative, took a 9.5 million inter-cooperative loan from Radhaswami Cooperative in Kathmandu by obtaining the signature of President Jangam. Bharatmani also said that after appointing Nimkumari as the president of Sai Swagat Savings and Credit Cooperative, Ramhari started the process of merging this cooperative into 'our new agricultural cooperative'. Our new agricultural cooperative is the same organization, whose vice president was Dolprasad Aryal, the current labor minister and RSVP vice-chairman, and Kavindra Burlakoti, the central member. An official of our new agricultural cooperative said that Sai Swagat was supposed to be merged, but the process was stopped in the middle.

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City has said that the investigation into Sai Cooperative is ongoing. The metropolis claims that the fact that Nikita Paudel, the wife of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Ravi Lamichhane, was the vice president of this cooperative, was found to have traded 50 million without collateral. Chartered accountants are studying the matter of this cooperative. A report will be submitted to the mayor within a few days," said an official of the metropolis involved in the investigation. "Based on the report, it will be decided what to do with this cooperative. The investigation is ongoing. The Money Laundering Investigation Department had written to the Kathmandu Metropolitan City on December 21 asking to provide the details of the cooperative's registration, board of directors, and transactions. After this, the metropolis started monitoring.