The Lok Sabha today approved a Constitution Amendment Bill seeking proper regulation of cooperative societies in the country.

The Bill which was introduced in the House by the Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar was later approved after rejecting the amendments. The legislation specifies that the maximum number of Directors of a cooperative society cannot be more than 12 and provides a fix term of five years for elected members of the society and its office bearers.
The Bill which was approved by division in the House also provides for a maximum limit of six months for keeping any Board of a society under suspension and conduct their independent professional audit. It also has the provision for Right of Information to the members of the societies and empowers the state governments to obtain periodic reports of their activities.

The Bill also calls for reservation of one seat for scheduled castes or scheduled tribes and two seats for women on every Board of the society. It also provides for penalties for offences relating to cooperative societies. The Bill is aimed to make the cooperative societies autonomous and democratic in functioning and at the same time ensure the accountability of the management to the members and other stake holders.