Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot returns two more bills, asks govt to rethink

Bengaluru: Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot returned two more bills to the state government on Thursday, asking it to rethink and re-submit the legislations with some modifications.

The Karnataka Co-Opertive Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2024 and Karnataka Souharda Sahakari (Amendment) Bill, 2024 were returned by the Governor, who said that the clarification provided by the government for the bills it had submitted earlier had not been satisfactory. 

Expressing his reservations over some of the provisions of the bill on co-operative societies, Gehlot said, “I am of the opinion that giving voting rights to all the members nominated is not the right course of action. It will allow them to take control of the society. This is not the democratically sound move as the rights of the elected members will be taken away through the backdoor. It is a step to weaken the democracy/autonomy of the co-operative sector. Re-think on this matter.” The Governor also opined that the proposal to abolish co-operative election authorities citing financial burden would be improper, pointing to the need to ensure independent and fair elections. Gehlot advised the government to re-think and submit the bill with modifications to the amendment.

Meanwhile, Gehlot said that he was not satisfied with the clarification that government provided on the Souharda Sahakari (Amendment) Bill. “Instead of giving voting rights to all the defaulters, a proper method should be brought in place to prevent them from voting,” the Governor said.