KATHMANDU: The parliamentary special investigation committee on the misuse of cooperative savings has decided to request essential documents from 20 problematic cooperatives.

At a meeting held, under the special committee’s coordinator and CPN-UML lawmaker Surya Thapa, at Singha Durbar on Sunday, the committee decided to send letters requesting details on the status of savings mobilization, audit reports, and other relevant information for the 20 troubled cooperatives listed in Schedule 1 of its mandate.

Thapa mentioned that the committee would study and initiate investigations once all the documents were received.

Additionally, the committee has consulted with various commissions and coordinators of previous committees regarding the investigation of troubled cooperatives.

The committee has held discussions with Radha Krishna Mainali, coordinator of the task force formed by the interim government in 1990, and Gauri Bahadur Karki, chair of the commission investigating troubled cooperatives, to gain insights from past studies and investigations, Thapa said.

He emphasized that based on these previous experiences, the committee aims to conduct an objective study to reach a conclusion.

The parliamentary investigation committee was formed on May 28 to investigate the misuse of cooperative savings.

The committee was established after the main opposition party, Nepali Congress (NC), obstructed parliament for a long time, demanding an investigation into the cooperative fund misuse scandal that implicated Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane.

The investigation committee led by Thapa comprises Sarita Bhusal from UML, Badri Pandey and Ishwori Devi Neupane from NC, Lekhnath Dahal from CPN-Maoist Center, Shishir Khanal from Rastriya Swatantra party, and Dhurba Bahadur Pradhan from Rastriya Prajatantra Party as its members.