15.1 Under rule 21 the Government of Bangladesh may depute government officials to manage cooperatives, if requested by a cooperative.
15.2 Fiji, Section 72 states the responsibilities of Cooperative Manager.
15.3 In India, under section 44 the Executive Board is competent to appoint the Chief Executive. But the appointment must be done from a panel recommended by a body constituted by the Government of India, called the “Panel Authority”. Under the same rule the Government of India has been authorized to regulate recruitment, remuneration, allowances and other conditions of services to national cooperatives. The Chief Executive is a member of the Board and Board Committees. Section 45 regards powers of Chief Executive.
15.4 The Indonesian, Malaysian, Nepalese, Filipino, Sri Lankan and Thai Laws do not include regulations of the powers and functions of the Chief Executive and the Chairman.
15.5 Based on these findings the following observations are made:
The minimum quorum for AGA should be no less than 50%. If a society fails to hold a General Assembly for three consecutive years, it is a clear indication that members have lost interest in the society. On this basis the society should cease to exist;
The General Assembly should hold final authority in all matters of the society. Decisions made on financial matters by the AGA should not be subject to approval by the Registrar, except under contractual obligations (as in Bangladesh);
Proxy through family members or society member could be provided. But a member should be allowed only one proxy in addition to his own vote;
It should not be obligatory for the society to invite the Registrar (as in Malaysia) to attend AGA. This decision should be at the discretion of the society only. However, provision could be made to forward agenda and minutes of the AGAs to the RCS;
Societies should hold authority to conduct their own elections, and should constitute own rules for this purpose. Only when a society fails to hold elections and/ or AGA in time, or if a formal request is made, should the RCS be given powers to intervene (India);
The powers and functions of Board, Chairperson, and Chief Executive should be clearly defined in the law. The basis of this could be:
The Board should decide on programs, priorities, resources, policy directions and membership issues;
The Chairperson should preside over Board meetings and be friend, philosopher and guide to the Chief Executive (CE) and should not try to control the CE or interfere in business and administrative affairs. If the Chairperson is to be involved in business and administrative affairs he should be a full time resource person and designated accordingly such as, Chairperson cum President (as in South Korea), Chairman cum Managing Director, Chairperson cum Manager, or the like.
15.6 Any proposals regarding the performance of the Board should be reviewed by the General Assembly and not by the RCS, except when the Board is guilty in legal terms of contravening Acts, rules, bye-laws or Laws of the land. All other irregularities observed by the department should be brought to the notice of the General Assembly for further action. If irregularities are of a serious nature, and the General Assembly fails to rectify them, action could be taken to overrule elections or cancel the registration of the society and initiate civil/criminal proceedings against the society officers concerned. But Government Departments should not impose own interests on a society by dissolving the Board and undertaking the management of the society.
15.7 The power to appoint Chief Executives should be vested in the Board, subject to rectification by the General Assembly. The Government should not be involved in these matters.
15.8 In countries where law requirement make it feasible, singular executive structure (Board only) should be changed to dual structures (Board and Audit Committee), to facilitate transfer of audits from Government Departments to Cooperatives. In Sri Lanka, where societies elect a separate Supervision/Audit Committee also, such committee consists of Members, and such committees at best perform Internal Audit and Supervisory functions. They are not competent and authorized to audit as such. Only auditors authorized by the Registrar can audit Co-operative Societies. All co-operatives must get their accounts audited at least once a year, and such audits are done by the Staff of the Registrar, or by Registered Auditors selected by the Society, and approved by the Registrar. Even a legally registered firm of auditors must be approved by the registrar to conform to the requirements of the Co-operative Law. Any public auditor has to be registered with the Registrar of Companies for normal functioning. He needs further authorization by the Co-operative Registrar to do co-operative audit.
15.9 Provision of Executive Committees consisting of full time employees, making day-to-day business decisions and assisting the Chief Executive, may be considered.
15.10 Yearly retirement of one third of the members of the Board, as in the Law of Fiji, is a sound way of maintaining continuity, while bringing new minds into the Board every year. The idea is worth consideration in bigger cooperatives.
