Citing diversion of staff from relief work, Maharashtra govt puts off cooperative society polls in all 304 drought-hit talukas

Mumbai: The state govt late on Tuesday indefinitely postponed elections for all eligible cooperative societies in the 304 talukas hit by drought, citing the need to prevent the diversion of administrative staff from relief work and inconvenience to farmers and others affected by the crisis.But cooperative housing societies, societies whose elections have been ordered by Supreme Court or Bombay high court, and those where the nomination process had begun before Tuesday have been exempted, according to a govt resolution (GR) issued by the state cooperation department.The state had seen feverish preparations for these elections over the past few months. All district central cooperative banks, which are considered the financial power centres of taluka and district politics, were scheduled to go to the polls, as were around 5,000 cooperative societies, like cooperative sugar factories, credit unions, cooperative banks, spinning mills, market committees and marketing associations. Last week, Rajarshi Shahu Shetkari Samavichari Aghadi, backed by Congress MLC Satej Patil, won the Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers Federation polls with 13 seats, defeating the Mahayuti-supported Chhatrapati Shahu Shetkari Vikas Aghadi, led by senior NCP minister Hasan Mushrif, which secured 12 seats.The GR said owing to the drought situation in the 304 talukas, it is necessary to immediately implement various relief measures. “For this, additional administrative responsibility has been created on the revenue, agriculture, animal husbandry, cooperation, rural development, water supply, water conservation and other related departments. In such a situation, if the election process of cooperative societies in these talukas is continued, there is a possibility that govt officials/employees will get involved in the election process, which is likely to affect the drought relief work. Also, it is likely that it will be inconvenient for farmers and members of the drought-affected areas to participate in the election process of cooperative societies at the present time,” it said.The department invoked Section 73CC of Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960, which empowers the state govt to defer cooperative elections during natural calamities and other exceptional circumstances.The state govt has announced relief measures for the 304 talukas. These include crop loan restructuring, suspension of agricultural loan recoveries, waivers on current electricity bills for agricultural pumps, provision of drinking water via tankers, fodder availability for livestock, and expanded employment under the employment guarantee scheme. On Tuesday, the cabinet announced that Rs 5,000 each will be disbursed directly into the bank accounts of 1.5 crore farmers from drought-hit districts before Diwali.You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Mumbai | Silver Rate in Mumbai | Bank Holidays in Mumbai | Public Holidays in Mumbai | Mumbai AQI | Weather in Mumbai | Petrol Price in Mumbai | Diesel Price in Mumbai | CNG Price in Mumbai | LPG Price in MumbaiStay updated with the latest Mumbai news. Download the TOI App.