Verghese Kurien spoke to Outlook on why cooperative laws should be changed. Excerpts
The state is not a user or contributor, so how does it become a member? Why should it have any say in how a cooperative should be run? Can it tell any private company how it should be run? We should have less and less government in sectors which can function better independently. And cooperatives can function as well as corporate entities without bureaucratic interferences. Even NDDB, which has a turnover of Rs 1,600 crore, has to run to the registrar for petty clearances.
You are asking for tax concessions and liberalisation in the same breath...
Why not? How much tax relief does the corporate sector get? A dairy cooperative, for instance, has a double taxation burden in sales and excise, but does not get any subsidies or relief from the Government.
Why is the MCSA pending change for such a long time?
Isnt the answer obvious? Who wants to relinquish power?
Can the State withdraw from the cooperative sector?
It can pull out gradually, by redeeming the equity in phases. But first it has to give up the powers of interference.