Kathmandu, Sept 6. The wave of mergers in banks and financial institutions has reached the cooperative sector. In the last few days alone, 25 cooperative organizations have agreed to merge/merge with each other and have entered into a merger agreement. The cooperative department said that the sudden wave of mergers in cooperatives is not legally valid. According to the department, those organizations should get permission from the cooperative department before going for the merger. However, they are willingly entering into an agreement for the merger without taking permission.
According to Rudraraj Pandit, registrar of the cooperative department, the merger should be done only after the permission of the department. He says, ‘It has been heard that some cooperative organizations have entered into an agreement to merge. There is a legal provision to take permission from the department before going for the merger. However, the department itself does not have information here.” He argued that the cooperatives should not voluntarily merge without informing the department, violating the provisions of the cooperative law.
Tolraj Adhikari, the sub-registrar of the department, has the same argument as the registrar Pandit. He says, “Cooperatives going for merger should ask for permission from the department at the beginning. However, cooperatives are going for mergers without permission. We have also issued instructions on what to do and what not to do before the merger.
In the instructions issued by the department, it is mentioned that inclusiveness should be maintained in the officers after the cooperative merger, the approval of the ministry should be obtained for the merger of common cooperative organizations established before 2nd June 2049, and the ad hoc committee should be informed to the department within three days from the date of formation of the merger.
It is stated in the directive, ‘According to the procedure for the integration of cooperative associations/organizations, 2070, if two or more associations/organizations want to merge with each other, they must pass a resolution from their respective board of directors along with the time limit of the integration work and the proposed action plan to the department office to do the related work. The application should be made.’
On the other hand, the senior vice-president of the National Cooperative Federation, Om Devi Mall, insists that the merger will be achieved if the general meeting and board of directors are elected three times. She says, “There have been complaints from the cooperative department that the cooperatives that have gone through the merger have not completed the process. However, the cooperatives that are going to merge have to hold three general meetings and elect the board of directors.
How many did the merger agreement?
So far, 25 cooperatives have signed merger agreements. Last August 11 Saturday, during a program held in Kathmandu, five cooperative organizations signed a merger agreement. After that, on August 17th nine cooperatives and eleven August 18th, 25 cooperatives signed the merger agreement.
A merger agreement was signed between Idol Yamuna Multipurpose Cooperative Society, National Namobuddha Savings and Loan Cooperative Society, Civil Welfare Multipurpose Cooperative Society, Satkar Savings and Loan Cooperative Society, and Ghedung Multipurpose Cooperative Society operating in Kathmandu on Saturday, August 11.
The cooperatives that have entered into the merger agreement will hold an annual general meeting within 1 month and a unified general meeting within 15 days of that. After the merger, the name of the institution will be ‘National Idol Yamuna Savings and Credit Cooperative Society. The total share capital of the organization will reach 30 million 81 million 22 thousand rupees.
Similarly, the organization’s reserve fund will have 146 million rupees, credit risk fund 124 million 42 million 35 thousand rupees, total institutional capital 16 million 94 million 29 thousand rupees, other funds 27 million 39 million rupees, and total savings will be 5 billion 63 million rupees 70 million rupees. Similarly, the loan in investment will be 4 billion 274 million 45 million, the financial investment will be 40 million 27 million 29 thousand, liquidity amount will be 1 billion 38 million 48 million, and the number of debtor members will be 6 thousand 858 people.
After the merger, the total assets of the organization will reach 7 billion 58 million rupees and there will be 30 thousand 20 share members. After the merger, Gyan Bahadur Tamang will become the president of the organization, while Kuyang Lama, the current president of Idol Yamuna Multipurpose Cooperative Organization, will take over as the chief executive officer (CEO).
Likewise, nine cooperatives signed an agreement on integration on Friday, August 17. On the show day, Shublabh Savings and Loan Cooperative Society, Jeevandeep Sakos, Member Seva Sakos, Shubharatna Sakos, Evertrust Sakos, Sarvochch Sambrdhi Sakos, Ashta Sakos, Our Seva Multipurpose Cooperative and Lalitpur Gangajal Multipurpose Cooperative signed the merger agreement.
After the merger, the name of the organization will be Shubh Seva Savings and Loans Cooperative Society Limited. The head office of the organization will be in New Road. The share capital of the organization formed after the merger will reach 270 million 29 million 64 thousand rupees.
Similarly, deposits will be 4 billion 89 crore 64 lakh 69 thousand rupees, loan investment 5 billion 30 crore 27 lakh 72 thousand rupees and total turnover will be 6 billion 49 crore 39 lakh 61 thousand rupees. Similarly, the credit risk fund of the new organization, which will have 61 thousand 749 share members, will be Rs 11 crore 91 lakh 99 thousand, and the reserve fund will be Rs 9 crore 84 lakh 60 thousand.
After the merger, it has been agreed that Yamber Bahadur Karki will become the chairman of Shublabh Savings and Loans Cooperative and Chhatra Basnet, the chairman of Jeevandeep Cooperative will be the vice president. Shital Prasad Sharma will handle the responsibility of the chief executive officer of the organization.
Similarly, on August 18th, 11 cooperative organizations entered into an agreement to merge. Savings and Loan Co-operative Societies and Multi-Purpose Co-operative Societies
