Home Administration Poll Dates For Co-ops

Poll Dates For Co-ops

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Government on Monday announced the dates for first-phase election of members to committees of Primary Co-operative Societies.

According to a notification issued by the Department of Co-Operation, the election of members to the committees of these societies will be held on June 19 and 22.

Odisha has over 6,400 primary, 127 central and 19 apex cooperative societies. Elections to these societies were last held in 2015.

While the tenure of 1,926 primary cooperative societies had ended in January 2020, the State Government postponed it to address their poor financial conditions.

The state has over 2,700 Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACS) and Large Area Multi-Purpose Cooperative Societies (LAMPS), which are affiliated with 17 central cooperative banks. Elections have also been due to weavers, fishermen and milkmen societies and their apex bodies Boyanika, Fishfed and Omfed.

Notably, the government had indicated its readiness to fulfil the Constitutional mandate in November last when Orissa High Court directed the State Cooperative Election Commission to conduct elections to the Sundargarh District Central Cooperative Bank and primary societies affiliated to it within a reasonable time.