Sept 2026 : On the final day of the Assembly session in Gandhinagar, Aam Aadmi Party Visavadar MLA Gopal Italia, while speaking to the media, presented details regarding the irregularities and bogus societies operating in Gujarat’s cooperative sector. Citing the government figures presented during the Assembly session, he revealed that out of approximately 91,500 registered cooperative societies across the state, only 83,500 are actually operational, while more than 8,000 societies exist only on paper. He stated that societies that do not carry out any kind of lending or business-related activities have been opened only for the purpose of creating fake members and establishing political dominance. With the strength of such bogus and inactive societies, unilateral control is being established over the elections of district cooperative banks, Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMC), as well as taluka and district purchase and sales unions, and farmers are being exploited.
Referring to the situation in Junagadh district, Gopal Italia stated that societies were registered in 2012 in the names of deceased persons and bogus voting was conducted. In addition, contrary to cooperative rules, the same person has been made a member of as many as ten different societies. In the written reply of the Assembly, 56 such bogus societies have been identified so far, but the actual number could be more than 400. Stating that control has been established through bogus voting in APMCs including Junagadh, Manavadar, Vanthali, Keshod, Visavadar and Mendarda, as well as in the Junagadh District Cooperative Bank, he added that the sacred cooperative structure that once enhanced Gujarat’s pride across the world through institutions like Amul, Banas and Sumul is being harmed for political interests. If the cooperative structure becomes weak, ultimately the farmer of Gujarat will be ruined, therefore, he appealed to all the farmers of the state to become aware of this matter.
