Kathmandu. Chairman of the National Cooperative Regulatory Authority Dr. KATHMANDU: NRA Chairman Khagaraj Sharma has said that the NRA was active to resolve the problems seen in the cooperative sector of Nepal and for effective regulation. Speaking at an interaction program with the Society of Cooperative Journalists (CJN) here on Monday, Minister Khatiwada said that it would take 7 to 10 years to reform the cooperative sector by resolving the anomalies and problems prevalent in the cooperative sector of Nepal.

According to him, a long-term plan is needed to bring the sector back into rhythm and run on self-regulation. He stressed that all systems of cooperatives should come under the NRA and the NRA should be developed as a powerful institution. He said that a strategy has been put in place to make the regulation effective by reducing unsightly and non-functional structures.

Stating that the present situation of the cooperative sector is anarchic, Dr. Sharma said, “There is anarchy everywhere in terms of good governance, so effective regulation and control should be done as per the need.” Similarly, Chairman Sharma complained that the NRA has not been able to work at a fast pace due to the lack of adequate legal provisions. He said that the authority should not be compared with the decades-old regulator like Nepal Rastra Bank and expect big results immediately. The NRA has not been able to carry out its work as expected due to lack of laws, human resources and resources.

Stating that the NRA has been working at a rapid pace since its establishment, he said that the workload has increased as the work to be done by other bodies is also sent to the NRA. “The municipalities, police administration and other agencies have been sending people (who have not received their savings back) to the authority,” he said. They have been coming to the NRA saying that they should help us as we are the bodies brought by the agitation. ’

Chairman Sharma admitted that although he thought that a lot of work could be done through the NRA in the beginning, he realized that he could not play more role than the law and procedure while working in practice. “Now, some of the campaign’s friends and media persons are stuck only in the NRA registration and documentation. You have been writing that action should be taken after monitoring the cooperatives, but it has not been done,” he said.

Although the NRA had carried out intensive monitoring of 7 cooperatives in the first phase, it did not make the monitoring report public to avoid further adverse situation in the organization. “We monitored a certain cooperative. And what would happen if we made a report public that we found such a problem? On the basis of this, what will happen if the members come to the queue to ask for the return of the savings?” he said, “Therefore, we have been putting more and more pressure to redress the problems seen in the cooperatives internally.” ’

He pointed out the need to issue a separate Authority Act as legal complexities have arisen while exercising the powers given to the Authority by a chapter of the Cooperative Act, 2074. “Every regulatory body in other sectors has been governed by its own act,” he said, “Therefore, our conclusion is that the Cooperative Act alone is not enough for the NRA.” ’

Speaking about the role of cooperatives, he clarified that the Cooperative Act does not allow the associations to carry out savings and loan transactions. “The job of the associations is to develop and promote the capacity of the member institutions, but now more than 57 associations are doing business like banks,” he said. He said that there is a need to mature the laws and regulations to solve this problem.

Similarly, the Executive Director of the NRA, Dr. Pushpa Raj Shahi said that only the Department of Cooperatives and the Rastra Bank have not been able to monitor cooperatives due to the practice of the last 40 years. He said that the process of issuing licenses to cooperatives with more than 30 percent savings and loan transactions has been initiated. He said the monitoring would be made effective through the use of online complaint system and technology.

In the same interaction, expert member of the NRA, Dr. Ramesh Prasad Chaulagain talked about the financial transactions and challenges of cooperatives. “The associations have been doing financial transactions for a long time. “Currently, around 69 associations are doing business, but only 57 associations have come to the NRA for documentation,” he said. ’

Similarly, President of Nepal Cooperative Journalists’ Society, Arjun Khatiwada, said that capacity building programmes should be conducted in coordination with the NRA to understand the role and cooperation of journalists. He stressed that journalists should express their commitment to expose the good aspects of cooperatives and to warn about bad practices.