Q.State whether the following statement is True or False, and justify your answer: 'Being elected to the managing committee of a co-operative society automatically makes a person a competent professional manager.'

Election makes a person a representative of the members, but managing a modern business needs specific training and skills.

Many elected committee members lack knowledge of finance, marketing and management, which is exactly why lack of professional management is a challenge.

The statement is False.

In a co-operative, the managing committee is elected by the members. Election makes a person a representative of the members — it does not, by itself, give the person the skills of finance, accounting, marketing, law and modern management that running a complex society requires. A person may be trusted and popular yet still be an untrained manager.

This is precisely why lack of professional management is one of the major challenges before the sector: elected members and often poorly-trained staff take key business decisions without the necessary competence, leading to poor decisions, inefficiency, failure to modernise and inability to compete. The recognised remedy is to separate ownership from management — the elected committee sets policy and exercises control, while trained, qualified managers and merit-appointed staff handle day-to-day operations, with regular training for both.

Since election does not automatically confer managerial competence, the statement is false.