PACS Members stage demonstration at Ara

Kumar Rajiv Nayan

Ara : Hundreds of Primary Agriculture Credit Cooperative Society (PACS) members of 228 panchayats in Bhojpur district on September 20, 2019, staged demonstration in front of the Cooperative Department on  Mangal Pandey Path, Ara, in protest against indifferent attitude of the PACS presidents towards them despite the order of Patna High Court.

Dhanoj Kumar Singh, an online applicant from Sinha Panchayat in Bhojpur district, said that CM Nitish Kumar had directed the farmers to apply online to become PACS members and allotted Rs 1 per farmer for the purpose from the Chief Minister’s Fund. Hundreds of farmers from 228 panchayats in Bhojpur district applied online for membership of the PACS from July 1, 2019, to August 15, 2019. The Cooperative Society collected Aadhar Cards, bank details, and receipts of the online applications saying that the PACS presidents would inform them after verification of their documents but the PACS presidents remained silent and cancelled the online applications without any reason.

The online applicants moved Patna High Court. The Patna High Court, hearing the writ petition No 14399/2019, ordered that all applicants whose matter is pending with the PACS for 15 days are already members of the PACS under Bihar Cooperative Society Act 1959 7(1). The court also declared those applicants as Members of the PACS under Bihar Cooperative Society Act 1935 and also directed the Cooperative Officer concerned to make available the list of existing members and new members to the Cooperative banks and the respective PACS at the earliest.

The court had also given three week’s time up to September 17, 2019, for submission of fresh applications by the eligible applicants for the membership of PACS of the Gram Panchayats. All such applications, which have already been submitted online, and the hard copies with the signature of the applicants and other information shall be transmitted to the PACS concerned for consideration. After three weeks, the Managing Committee of the PACS was supposed to take a decision on all the fresh applications and the online applications which are already submitted and will be transmitted to the PACS within the prescribed period.

The court further said that a fortnight statutory time is available to the PACS to take a decision and communicate the same to the individual applicant by post with a copy of the intimation letter to be submitted to the Block Cooperative Extension Officers concerned simultaneously. In the event of PACSs failing to take decision within 15 days, the State Election Authority shall proceed to notify the programme for preparation of the voter list and finalisation of the same.