The Controversy Behind India's Multi-State Co-operative Societies Amendment Bill

14 Aug 2023

The Multi-State Co-operative Societies Amendment (MSCS) Bill 2022 faces controversy based on the array of changes that the opposition believes hurt the constitutional nature of the Act. The Bill aims to address the election of board members, merging cooperative societies, the introduction of a fund for sick cooperative societies, changes to the composition of the board of directors, penalty increases, and more overhead from the Union government. Within the bill, there exist convoluted situations regarding the subject of banking. The bill's goal is to try and "cure the ills" of the Cooperative sector, and to reduce misuse at the State level. With the bill, there exist several legal uncertainties and constitutional challenges.