Kathmandu. Unveiling the manifesto for the upcoming elections, the CPN-UML has pledged to re-establish cooperatives as a secure, productive and trustworthy economic pillar based on good governance, transparency and member-centred system.

The rural economy will be strengthened through cooperatives with agriculture, production, value chain, processing, storage and market management at the centre.

It also envisages making cooperative registration, reporting, monitoring and information system fully digital, expanding access to national and international markets through cooperative commercialization, branding, quality certification and e-commerce. The long-term national cooperative policy envisages preparing the basis for safe savings, productive economy and prosperous Nepal.

The bill also states that the money of the savers affected by the problematic cooperatives would be returned in a prompt, transparent and responsible manner, and a savings guarantee fund would be established with provisions of recovery from the culprits by taking stern action against the guilty.

The bill states that the cooperative regulation would be integrated, simplified and effective by clarifying the working area among the federal, provincial and local levels, and the National Cooperative Regulatory Authority would be provided with necessary legal authority, modern technology and skilled human resources for the strict monitoring of the cooperatives carrying out financial transactions.

The cooperatives will play a leading role in agriculture, value chain, processing, storage and market management. It also states that digital technology will be used in registration, reporting, monitoring and information management, and cooperative products will be linked to national and international markets through branding and e-commerce.

It states that employment and self-employment would be created through cooperatives targeting youths, women, workers and marginalized communities, and a special legal mechanism would be implemented to resolve the problems of borrowers who have taken loans from closed and defunct cooperatives.