In recent days, 'cooperative' has reached the peak of discussion. There are 31,000 cooperatives in the country, most of which are savings and credit cooperatives. Especially large savings and loan cooperatives have become business-oriented instead of being member-centered according to the values ​​and beliefs of cooperatives.

For example, according to the Cooperative Act 2074, some cooperatives have violated the provision that cooperatives can only accept the savings of their members and provide loans only to members. Some co-operatives have accepted large amounts of savings from non-members and misappropriated the funds deposited by the general public. 

According to the Cooperative Act, there is a provision that cooperative organizations should not invest in real estate, shares and other transactions except for loan investment among members and purchase of government bonds and treasury bills. However, some cooperatives have invested the savings of common people in unproductive areas such as housing, real estate, share trading, media, and personal work. It has been found that some cooperatives have given loans to those who are unsecured, unable to repay the loan and do not even have a common acquaintance. Without analyzing the financial risk, the loan taken once is not repaid and the loan is given repeatedly to non-members and outside the working area. Issuing loans in the name of the director and manager of the organization and using the financial resources of the cooperative organization for personal gain has been a scam of billions. 

According to the Cooperative Act, there is a provision that more than one person from the same family cannot be in the board of directors and audit committee at the same time. But some savings and loan cooperatives have come to light that they make their family members accountants, open fake accounts and embezzle funds using illegal means such as hundi. In the same way, incidents such as 'cooperative parpachuke' and 'fake anshbanda' have also come into the limelight regarding misuse of funds deposited in cooperatives. Not only this, it is also believed that some cooperatives were established with the sole purpose of deceiving savers. Due to these various reasons, it is estimated that more than two and a half billion rupees have been diverted from the savers, which is about five percent of Nepal's gross domestic product and about nine thousand per person. 

The people who are affected by the embezzled money, burn corn, sell greens, clean the house, wipe the floor, wash clothes, drive carts, work in jammies, weave carpets, wash dishes in hotels, break stones, break stones, sweat in the heat of more than 50 degrees abroad. The amount earned by leaking is also included. Some of them have invested the money they saved from cutting weeds in cooperatives to buy medicines when they are sick and to support their lives in their old age. The amount saved for old age by working all his life, earned by working abroad and deposited in the cooperative by selling real estate to earn regular interest has also sunk. Since there is no need to reveal the source to deposit money in the cooperative, it is estimated that some people have deposited money in the cooperative in order to whiten the black money.

Some people with low income have not been able to take medicine because they could not withdraw the money they had collected in the cooperative after shedding blood and sweat. Some people's health is deteriorating due to stress. Some have deteriorated and some have committed suicide. Complaints like not being able to educate children, not being able to pay house rent are heard in abundance. In this way, the problem of cooperatives has taken a serious form at the national level and the victims of cooperatives have been forced to protest. The co-operative problem has attracted the attention of various sections of the society including the general public, journalists, government, politicians and has heated up both the streets and the parliament. Although the problem of cooperatives has been increasing for a long time, due to the indifference of the government, this problem is spreading instead of being solved. 

This kind of problem is definitely not the problem of the entire cooperative sector. This problem is created due to the greedy sinners involved in limited large cooperatives who act against the principles, values ​​and norms of cooperatives. Problems have arisen in this sector especially as large savings and loan cooperatives have violated cooperative laws on a large scale. Because of them 25 co-operatives are currently declared as problem organisations. Complaints have been filed against hundreds of cooperative fraudsters, and arrest warrants have been issued against some of them. Some have absconded and some have left the country fearing prosecution. How many are dealing with cases, how many have been prosecuted. How many are out on bail, how many are in custody and how many are in jail. The problems of the cooperative sector have become worse after the savers, who are suffering from the big loss in the cooperatives, started protesting. 

Cooperative Reform Area

Central Cooperative Inquiry Committee was formed under the chairmanship of Mohanman Sainju in 2024 to solve the problems in the cooperative sector and to improve this sector. Since then, 13 teams, working groups, committees and commissions up to the Parliamentary Inquiry Special Committee formed in 2081 under the chairmanship of MP Surya Thapa have identified the problems and shown ways to solve them. After the detailed report prepared by the latest Parliamentary Investigation Special Committee 2081 on Cooperative Savings Misuse was published and the government decided to implement it, millions of savers have little hope that the problem of cooperatives will be solved. 

Now it is necessary for the government to give justice to the victims of cooperatives by showing in practice that cooperatives will be reformed and to advance the speed of economic development by comprehensively reforming cooperatives as an important part of the economy. If the government had solved the problem in the co-operative earlier, it would not have become so serious. Millions of cooperative members would not suffer. For the improvement of cooperatives, among the suggestions given by various commissions, committees and working groups, the currently relevant and useful suggestions should be selected and implemented. Some of the policy, legal, institutional and administrative suggestions that need to be implemented are as follows:

Policy arrangement : After the implementation of federalism in the country, cooperative associations, provincial and local have been kept under the jurisdiction of those levels. In this context, it is necessary to amend the cooperative policy adopted 12 years ago according to the principle, purpose and purpose of the cooperative. Consistency should be maintained in the cooperative policy of the union, state and local levels. 

Savings and credit cooperatives should be reviewed for their scope of work, deposit and loan limits for members and non-members, and interest arrangements. Issues such as a special system for inspecting and monitoring cooperatives and insurance of savings up to a certain amount are also important. Steps should also be taken to determine the limit of the capital of cooperatives and consolidate or cancel those that do not reach it. According to the purpose of the cooperative, various benefits including taxes should be provided to cooperatives that conduct business on a member-oriented basis.

Legal reform : After the appropriate policy on cooperatives is decided, a clear legal arrangement should be made to implement it without taking a detailed and ambiguous meaning. Cooperatives Act 2074 should include all provisions according to the basic principles of cooperatives and international best practices. For example, the promotion of education was one of the seven principles of co-operatives propounded by the founders of the world's first modern co-operatives established in Rachdale, UK. According to that, in the cooperative laws of different countries, it is stipulated that every cooperative organization must collect a certain percentage of the profit every year by arranging an education fund. But our Co-operative Act has failed to provide for such a separate fund. It is kept as a small part of the Co-operative Promotion Fund, which shows that co-operative education is not given priority. 

Establishing a separate education fund in accordance with international best practices as well as adopting other cooperative best practices. Similarly, the provisions related to savings and credit cooperatives should be clarified in the Cooperative Act. Uniformity should be maintained in the union, state and local level laws related to cooperatives and other laws that do not match with the concept of cooperatives should be amended. 

Institutional arrangements : A competent authority should be established to regulate cooperatives. It is not that 'our people are good' but based on the good belief that 'good people are ours', a group of clean and honest managers who are experts, experienced, determined for the development of the cooperative, and have a long-term vision should be formed. Party workers, middlemen, people with bribery tendencies should not be given a place in it. As the number of co-operatives is increasing, its area of ​​operation is expanding and the associated population is also increasing, adequate amount of qualified, experienced and skilled staff should be arranged to effectively regulate the co-operatives.

According to the provisions of the Cooperatives Act, an effective government mechanism should be developed to ensure that all procedures such as conducting annual general meetings, preparing and submitting statements, conducting audits, etc., are followed by cooperatives in a timely manner. The time has come to adopt measures to digitize cooperatives and make them environment-friendly. Since most of the cooperative organizations are local and state level, a strong institutional system should be developed at the state and local level to effectively inspect and monitor the cooperatives.

Similarly, organizations such as credit information center, debt recovery tribunal, savings and credit protection fund should be formed. Nepal Rastra Bank should arrange for inspection and supervision of savings and loan cooperatives whose transactions exceed a certain amount. 

Education and awareness : For the cooperative to operate continuously according to its values ​​and beliefs, related education and awareness play a big role. Education was embraced in Britain in 1844 when the Co-operative Act was first developed. Among the seven principles of cooperatives adopted by the International Cooperative Alliance in 1995, 'Education, Training and Information' is considered as an important principle. However, although our Cooperative Act stipulates that cooperatives should provide education, information and training to their members, this is not implemented in practice. 

Honesty, equality, unity, cooperation, social responsibility and caring for others are the core values ​​of cooperatives. Those who join the cooperative must follow it. However, co-operatives are not suitable businesses for making commercial profits and getting rich overnight. Similarly, it is not a place for people who want to make personal gains motivated by cooperative politics and other narrow sentiments. According to its values ​​and beliefs, a cooperative is an organization that is joined by people who are motivated to jointly achieve their own and the community's interests. Therefore, those who want to become a member of the cooperative should be informed in detail about the cooperative before becoming a member. Even after becoming a member, refresher training should be given about it. 

action : Those who work against the values ​​and beliefs of the cooperative and who violate the cooperative laws should be severely punished according to the law. This kind of action should be done impartially, not on the basis of own and foreign, or to trap someone and save someone, according to political or other proximity. Proceedings should be started with the worst offenders based on the magnitude of the crime and not on the merits. Those who misuse the co-operative funds should be deprived of the service facilities of the state. Political appointments should not be made, positions should not be given to political parties and civil society, and social exclusion should be done. 

Right now, the matter of returning the money of the co-op victims should get the highest priority. The money lost by the common people should be recovered by freezing and auctioning the movable and immovable property of the cooperative organization and their directors, managers and family members who misuse the resources of the cooperative. Immediate steps should be taken to return the unsatisfied amount to the small savers through various means including the arrangement of cooperative promotion fund. 

Incentives and Rewards : Co-operatives help to reach the backward and disadvantaged groups, expand economic activities in rural areas, increase employment, reduce poverty and help develop a self-sustaining economy. Therefore, according to the spirit of the cooperative, the state should provide various facilities including taxes to cooperatives that are member-centered and work well, their activities should be widely publicized and they should be awarded and honored nationally. 

Every year 20th of Chait should be celebrated as National Cooperative Day in a grand manner and Chait month should be celebrated as Cooperative Month by organizing various programs related to cooperatives. The year 2082 should be implemented by being extensive policy, legal, processed, institutional reforms, as per the cooperative year. & Nbsp;

concluded is an important aspect of the cooperative of Nepal. At present, there are 31,000 cooperatives in the country, in which 7 million members are members. This area provides direct employment to about 94,000 people. After 478 billion savings has been mobilized through these organizations, 426 billion debt has been investing. & Nbsp;