KATHMANDU: Rastriya Janamorcha Chairman Chitra Bahadur KC has stated that issues surrounding cooperatives have been overshadowed by political instability in the country.
Speaking at a program organized on Saturday addressing the misappropriation of cooperative funds, KC highlighted that hundreds of thousands of people have suffered after their deposits in cooperative organizations were embezzled, attributing the problem to ongoing political upheavals.
KC emphasized the need for people and political parties to pressure stakeholders to address the issues within cooperative organizations.
He noted that a small group of individuals misused the hard-earned money of the poor.
Nepali Congress Chief Whip Ramesh Lekhak described the issues facing cooperative organizations as a “highly sensitive challenge,” noting that people have deposited billions of rupees in these institutions.
Lekhak expressed serious concerns about the security of cooperative deposits due to the actions of a few infamous cooperatives and highlighted the involvement of public figures and state officials in the embezzlement as a significant concern.
CPN (Maoist Centre) General Secretary Dev Prasad Gurung stated that the cooperative movement in Nepal has not been implemented as intended, with its true philosophy being to advance towards socialism through cooperative efforts.
Instead, Gurung noted, the movement has been reduced to profit-making activities rather than producing and exporting goods.
He called on the government and major political parties to take the issue seriously and raise their voices against those involved in embezzlement.
Constitutionalist Kashiraj Dahal criticized state mechanisms for delaying resolutions to cooperative sector issues and called for the formation of a high-powered commission to address these challenges.
Vice-chairperson of Rastriya Janamorcha, Durga Poudel, noted that cooperative organizations operating according to their objectives, philosophy, and principles have also been victimized.
Poudel emphasized that due to the actions of a few wrongdoers, cooperatives have become synonymous with fraud.
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