JOIN USPresident Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday called upon state governments to amend the cooperative laws to align them with the 97th Constitution (Amendment) Act which made the right to form cooperative society a fundamental right.
Noting that the law has created an enabling environment for the development of the cooperatives, the President said that it sought to enable democratic, autonomous and professional functioning of the cooperatives.
“By this amendment the right to form cooperative society has now become a fundamental right. The act has paved the way for development of a stronger cooperative movement. To take this initiative further to the grassroot level respective state governments also need to create enabling environment by amending state laws etc as and when it is necessary,” Mukherjee said after giving away the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) Awards for Cooperative Excellence 2012 at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Saturday.
The 97th Constitution (Amendment) Act was passed by Parliament in December 2011. It received presidential assent in January and came into effect on February 15.
The Centre had last May fixed the February 14, 2013 as the deadline for the states to amend their Cooperative Acts to ensure compliance with the 97th Constitution (Amendment) Act.