Mumbai: The state government has issued an order putting elections of the cooperative societies on hold till September end. The government order issued on Wednesday mentions monsoon as the reason for deferring the elections, so that there is maximum participation of voters.
There are 82,631 societies with each society having over 250 members, of them 49,333 societies have published the provisional list of members or voters eligible to vote or contest elections.
So far, 42,157 societies have completed the procedure related to conducting elections in their respective societies. Similarly, formalities are in progress in 6,510 societies across the state.
“The order specifies that due to heavy rains elections will have to be completed after September 30. The only exception is where courts have directed to hold the elections. In view thereof the election process will be delayed till September 30. Existing committees will continue,” said advocate Vinod Sampat, President, Cooperative Societies Residents Users & Welfare Association.
Govt's order silent on numbers of members of cooperative societies
However, the government’s order is silent on the cooperative societies having 250 members or less than that. Hence, it has been left open for interpretation but has created confusion among thousands of societies.
Even during the pandemic period, the state government had announced postponing cooperative society elections and permitted the incumbents to continue holding their respective positions for day-to-day operations and administrative purposes.
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