The Multi-State Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022

The Multi-State Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022

The Bill allows co-operative societies (registered under state laws) to merge into an existing multi-state co-operative society.  According to the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), cooperatives are people centered enterprises jointly owned and democratically controlled by and for their members to realize common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations.  Multi--state cooperatives are societies that have operations in more than one State — for instance, a farmer producers organization which procures grains from farmers from multiple States.  The board of directors are from all the States these collectives operate in and control all the finances and administration. There are close to 1,500 MSCSs registered in India with the highest number being in Maharashtra. 97th Amendment Act: It added “cooperative societies” under Article 19(1)(c), elevating it to a fundamental right to form associations or unions or cooperative societies. The amendment introduced Article 43B (i…