LAHORE, June 12: The government could not get the Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill 2005 passed from the Punjab Assembly as the session was adjourned for the lack of quorum on Monday. The bill will be taken up again on Tuesday for adoption.

Earlier, during the session, Law Minister Raja Basharat said the cooperatives department had amended the Cooperative Societies Act, 1925, to meet the changed ground realities and new challenges. He said the Cooperative Societies Act was promulgated way back in 1925 and marginally amended in the past. The government had worked for three years to amend the act to address a number of situations and circumstances like the cooperative housing sector, now the main component of the cooperative movement.

He said the government was also struggling to help people get their money back, which they invested in fraudulent cooperative societies.

Opposition deputy leader Rana Sanaullah said the present regime had not taken the initiative to amend the act on its own but due to the mafia operating in the sector. He said people were concerned due to frauds being committed in different cooperative societies.

The government itself was involved in land grabbing. Citing an example, he said, the government functionaries were involved in making and changing designs of ring road and Wagah-Nankana Road to grab or purchase land at the cheapest rates.

He said the cooperatives department did not call any MPA for input but now the bill had been presented before the house for its endorsement.

As the law minister said the bill had been seen and amended by the assembly’s Standing Committee on Cooperatives, he said the committee had only changed ‘ifs and buts’ as well as corrected some typographic mistakes. This ‘input’ of the committee was not worthwhile.