PC ‘anti-cooperative’: Ajit Pawar

Major co-operative societies have been demanding that the sector be kept out of the direct tax code and given income tax exemption.

Stating that Maharashtra has a strong and robust cooperative presence in sugar,banking and dairy,Pawar said the cooperative sector to a large extent had helping bridge the urban-rural divide. “There were some who brought a bad name to the cooperative movement but for that the whole sector shouldn’t be blamed. Today,the co-operatives sector is in dire need of government support,” said Pawar.

Earlier,speaking at the prize distribution ceremony of Mahatma Gandhi Dispute-Free Village Movement (MGDVM),Pawar said the state government would soon start a similar campaign in urban areas as it has been a success in villages.

“In 2009-10,about 788 gram panchayats had become dispute-free in the state. This is a great achievement for the district and the credit goes to the district administration and the police department,” said Pawar adding that a pilot project in urban areas would be launched in Aurangabad city following which similar campaigns would be launched in Pune and other cities.

MGDVM was started for speedy disposal of disputes rather that approaching courts and following longer procedures. Cash prizes of Rs 23 crore were distributed to 788 panchayats that achieved dispute-free status in 2009-10 and 154 that achieved made the cut in 2010-11.