Bill to amend multi-state co-operative societies introduced in Lok Sabha amid Opposition protest

The contentious Multi-State Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, braving objections raised by many opposition parties. While the government maintained the bill, introduced by BL Verma, MoS for Cooperation would bring "transparency" and "accountability" in the cooperative sector, many Opposition MPs said the Bill was against the spirit of federalism and demanded it be referred to a standing committee.

Verma said the bill was well within the legislative competence of the House and rejected the charge that its provisions encroached upon the domain of states and state cooperatives. The bill will be taken up for discussion later.

Congress MPs Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Manish Tewari opposed the introduction by arguing that the cooperative sector is a state subject and that the Centre was trying to centralise the sector. Tewari called for the bill's withdrawal alleging certain provisions in it "strike at the heart of the autonomy of cooperative societies".


NK Premachandran of RSP said "the bill is against the spirit of the definition of cooperative societies as enshrined in the Constitution". Saugata Roy of Trinamool and TR Balu of DMK too opposed its introduction.

Speaker Om Birla asked MPs to limit their observation to the legislative competence of the House.