Credit societies too under RTI purview: TOI

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Credit-societies-too-under-RTI-purview/articleshow/4363379.cms

Times of India

06 April 2009

Credit societies too under RTI purview 6 Apr 2009, 0305 hrs IST, TNN

CHANDIGARH: In a major development bringing transparency in the affairs of various credit and thrift cooperative societies registered under the Act and operative in the city, the Central Information Commission has asked registrar, cooperative societies, UT, to provide information related to one such society, thus bringing it under the purview of RTI. With this order, anybody having doubt and smelling foul play in the functioning of these societies can now seek the entire records under the RTI Act. Central information commissioner (CIC) ML Sharma passed these orders while hearing an appeal filed by Sector-27 resident Satish Chander Ummat. The appellant was a member of Chandigarh SBI MMBE Thrift And Credit Society Limited and had sought some information pertaining to the affairs of the society under the RTI Act from the office of cooperative department, Chandigarh. But when the appellant failed to get the sought information for more than one year, he moved an appeal before the CIC, New Delhi. While passing the order, central information commissioner ML Sharma directed the registrar, cooperative department, UT, through its superintendent SK Bansal, to provide all information related to the society sought by the appellant in six weeks. In UT alone, around 100 cooperative thrift and credit societies registered under the Society Registration Act are in operation. Such societies are incorporated by various bank employees, government employees and other employees and usually majority of these organization remain in news for allegations of non-transparency in their affairs. Even the office-bearers of the said Chandigarh SBI MMBE Thrift and Credit Society were booked under various sections of IPC for forging documents and criminal conspiracy. The appellant in the present case had sought information about discrepancies brought out in the audit reports of the society and number of disputes in which the society was involved with its members, etc.