KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has directed secretary of the cooperative department to file a report about the housing societies established for marginalised communities like scheduled castes and women.

The SHC further asked him to apprise it whether the provincial authorities have taken any step to establish any economic society to uplift the areas falling within different sectors in the province.

A two-judge bench, headed by Justice Salahuddin Panhwar, also ordered the chief secretary Sindh to submit a comprehensive report regarding compliance of its earlier orders including formation of a high-level committee to ensure implementation of Sindh Cooperative Societies Act, 2020 in letter and spirit.

The bench noted that earlier, it had passed various orders regarding provision or original records pertaining to land allotment in Korangi, policy underpinning such allotment and conversation of and land use from cooperative farming society to an industrial utilisation from member of the Board of Revenue, master plan authority and deputy commissioner Korangi.

Thereafter, the record revealed that the land in question was originally allotted to a cooperative farming society and duly entered in the record of rights, but it was subsequently transferred by virtue of a gift deed, it added.

The bench also recalled that a senior member of the Board of Revenue (BoR) had shown his intention to investigate the matter and also undertook to establish guidelines governing the conditions for land grants to housing societies in the light of a previous judgment of SHC handed down last year.

It further observed that the overarching goal of the legislation was to improve the quality of life, enhance business practices and introduce superior methods of production for agriculturists, small farmers, laborers and individuals and the same can be achieved by facilitating the formation and operation of cooperative societies, which were designed to serve as a means for collective economic empowerment and social advancement and the authorities concerned were directed to formulate necessary policy in accordance with these guiding principles.

The bench said that in light of such orders, there must be a complete policy regarding residential purposes under the Act to be framed by BoR while the SHC had also ordered the chief secretary in an identical matter to constitute a high-level committee comprising prominent economists., agriculturists, philanthropists, bankers and members from development sector to implement the Act and amend the rules in view to court order in order to meet the main objects and purposes of the law.

“Accordingly, the chief secretary Sindh shall submit comprehensive reports on the above-referred orders. Secretary cooperative society shall appear in person and submit a report with regard to societies established for marginalised communities like scheduled castes/women as well as whether the province of Sindh has taken any step to establish any economic society in order to uplift the areas falling within different sectors in the province of Sindh”, it added.

While adjourning the hearing till Oct 12, the bench also asked the federal and provincial education authorities to file reports till next hearing about introduction of bachelor and master programmes on the subject of cooperative societies in all general universities.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2024