“Land developers and  those who charge exorbitant interest rates are entering the cooperative sector”, said Cooperation Minister G T Devegowda.
He was speaking at the valedictory function of the ‘Raichur District Second Cooperative Meet and Cooperative Struggle Centenary Celebrations’.
The cooperative sector is the backbone of the farmers.Thus, only those who are honest and capable should enter this field. Moreover, the general public should not allow for any kind of politics in the sector and instead strengthen the cooperative field, he appealed.

Interference
Too much of interference from the government is responsible for the worsening of the cooperative sector. Also, by allowing those who are unaware of the nuances of the field to function is dealing a severe blow to the sector. Moreover, the cooperative organisations should be allowed to function independently with minimal interference from the governmnet, he added.

Vulnerable
The cooperative sector is in a vulnerable situation similar to those of the farmers in the State . Of the 176 Primary Agriculture and Land Development Banks, only 25 are making profits.
Because of the loan waiver schemes the cooperative sector is badly hit. As a result in the future loans should not waived off, instead we should ask the government to fix rights prices for our crops.Only when the farmers get fair prices for their products, would they survive and the cooperative organisations will also thrive, observed Mr Devegowda, who is also the president of the Karnataka State Cooperative Federation.
Also, present on the occasion were Minister N Cheluvarayaswamy, Minister Hanumanthappa Alkod and others.