Minister for Co-operation, B G Puttaswamy, said on Tuesday that the Karnataka government would amend the Karnataka Souharda Sahakari Act on the lines of the amendment made by the Centre, to strengthen the co-operation sector in the State.

On being amended, the legislation is expected to be a model for the country. It will be tabled in the legislature session to be held here from December 5.

The revelation was made while Puttaswamy was speaking to reporters after the inauguration of the Sahakara Adalita Bhavana in the city.

The legislation would make it mandatory for all co-operative bodies to conduct their annual general body meetings by September every year.

“It will prevent government interference in co-operative bodies, besides bringing about internal democracy in them,” Puttawamy said.

Cases can be filed if funds are misused by co-operative bodies. They would also have to follow reservation norms for SC/STs, the minister added.

Major funding

He said there were over 36,000 co-operative bodies in the State, of which 1,825 were milk producers co-operatives.

The government had given aid to the tune of Rs 17.59 crore to co-operative bodies in the State for funding self-help groups. Women’s self-help groups and youth could avail the benefits of self-employment schemes by producing and selling various products, he said.

Allocations would be made for the proposed co-operation university in the State in the next budget. The location would be decided by the government later, he said.

The implementation of the Vaidyanathan Committee report had resulted in 8,255 co-operative bodies being revived in the State.

“The government had released Rs 703 crore for the purpose,” Puttaswamy said.