Administrator for housing societies a thing of the past

The state government has not been able to work out any legal provision to curb mismanagement of cooperatives that could occur once the ordinance giving more powers to societies is promulgated this week.

As a result, societies that are faced with such mishandling would have to approach the courts or seek the intervention of the police, rather than approach the state department, official sources said on Monday.

“The amendment takes away the authority of the state to appoint an administrator that was there previously. So, we will only be able to order an inquiry into complaints. Liquidation of societies is an option, but that is an extreme step that will not be taken in normal circumstances,” said a senior official in the state cooperative department. “Therefore, the only recourse for housing societies would be to approach the police.”

The amendment to the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act that allows more powers to societies was cleared a fortnight ago and the ordinance for this is expected to be issued in a couple of days.
Announcing the changes in the law at a news conference end-January, minister for cooperation Harshvardhan Patil had said that since the state could no longer appoint an administrator in the case of mismanagement of unaided societies, it would look at other legal options for intervention. (The authority to appoint an administrator in aided cooperatives stays with the government. Most housing societies are unaided cooperatives.)

It seems that this concern was also expressed by several ministers at the cabinet meeting, who felt that the amendment would hurt the interest of aggrieved housing society members.

“Now we have no option really but to go ahead with the amendments. While we can try to intervene, in the case that a society is not functioning properly, or there is a vacuum, the members would have to elect a new interim body,” the official said.

“The state cooperative department has finalised the draft amendment which has been sent to the governor for approval. The ordinance is likely to be issued by the February 13 or 14,” the official said.