Railway cooperative societies asked to align bye-laws with amended Act

Cooperative Election Authority (CEA) on Monday called on railway employee cooperative societies to align their bylaws with amended legislation, as the regulator works to strengthen democratic governance in the sector.

The meeting brought together representatives from 16 multi-state cooperative societies of railway employees, with more than 40 office bearers attending, the authority said in a statement.  The discussions centered on aligning society bylaws with the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Act, 2023, establishing representative general bodies, and ensuring timely election proposals are submitted at least six months before boards complete their tenures.  CEA Chairperson Devendra Kumar Singh said the body has conducted 220 elections since its establishment, with 70 currently underway nationwide.  The authority was created following 2023 amendments to oversee electoral rolls and conduct elections in multi-state cooperative societies. India has approximately 18 multi-state cooperative societies serving railway employees, with a combined membership of 8,00,000 to 1 million workers. These societies handle an estimated Rs 10,000 crore in deposits and loans, offering concessional lending rates to members.  Four of the societies hold banking licenses. The authority has already overseen elections for five railway employee cooperative societies, including The Jackson Cooperative Credit Society of the Employees of Western Railway Limited in Mumbai and The Eastern Railway Employees Cooperative Bank in Kolkata.  CEA Vice-chairperson R K Gupta outlined challenges in conducting elections and measures taken to ensure transparent electoral processes.

Anand Kumar Jha, Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies, stressed the urgent need for bylaw amendments to enable smooth elections. Officials from the Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Cooperation also attended the meeting.