Q.Discuss the impact of the 97th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2011 on co-operative societies and on the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960.

For the first time, co-operative societies were given a place in the Constitution itself, and States had to change their laws to match.

The 97th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2011 (in force from 2012) is the most important reform in the recent history of co-operative law, because it raised co-operation from an ordinary State subject to a matter dealt with in the Constitution itself.

The three main constitutional changes:

1. A fundamental right — Article 19(1)(c) was amended so that the right to form co-operative societies is now a fundamental right of citizens, alongside the right to form associations and unions.
2. A directive principle — a new Article 43B was inserted, directing the State to promote the voluntary formation, autonomous functioning, democratic control and professional management of co-operative societies.
3. A new Part IX-B — a whole new part ('The Co-operative Societies') was added to the Constitution, laying down rules the States had to bring into their own co-operative laws. What Part IX-B required the States to provide: (a) a fixed five-year term for the elected committee (board); (b) a maximum number of directors (not more than twenty-one); (c) reservation of seats for women and for members from the Scheduled Castes / Scheduled Tribes / weaker sections; (d) independent, timely elections conducted by a State Co-operative Election Authority, held before the existing board's term ends; (e) a limit on the period of supersession of a board (generally not more than six months); (f) compulsory audit within six months of the year-end by auditors from an approved panel; and (g) filing of returns with the Registrar within six months of the year-end. Impact on the Maharashtra Act: to bring its law in line with Part IX-B, Maharashtra amended the 1960 Act (through amending legislation in 2013). As a result the Act now contains the five-year board term, the cap on the number of directors, reservation of seats, elections through the State Co-operative Election Authority, limits on supersession, audit within a fixed time by panel auditors, and timely filing of returns. The overall effect is to make co-operative societies more democratic, more transparent, more professionally managed and more autonomous, reducing the scope for political or bureaucratic interference. …

Remembering only the fundamental-right change and forgetting Article 43B and Part IX-B, or forgetting the concrete reforms (five-year term, reservation, independent e …