CHENNAI: Over three years have passed since the tenure of the elected boards of over 18,775 cooperative societies expired, yet elections have not been conducted. In the absence of elected governing bodies, the powers and functions of these cooperative societies are currently being exercised by government officials.
These cooperative societies span several sectors, including cooperation, dairy development, horticulture, handlooms and textiles, agriculture and allied activities.
As per sources, the previous DMK government was reluctant to hold the elections, as cooperative society members were widely believed to be supporters of the AIADMK. In 2013, the DMK boycotted the cooperative society elections, and in 2018, it alleged large-scale malpractice during the polls.
“The delay in conducting elections to cooperative societies has resulted in officials managing their affairs. Consequently, farmers and other members are facing difficulties in accessing loans and other benefits offered by the societies and their affiliated institutions,” said a former director of a dairy cooperative society.
According to official sources, the Tamil Nadu State Cooperative Societies Election Commission began a voter list purification exercise in 2023 by linking members’ Aadhaar numbers with the electoral rolls. The exercise was aimed at preventing duplicate entries and removing ineligible and deceased members from the voter list.
The 18,775 cooperative societies together have around 1.5 crore members. In April 2025, the then cooperation minister K R Periyakaruppan informed the Assembly that Aadhaar details of about 61 lakh members remained unverified.
Multiple sources in the cooperation and dairy development departments told TNIE that the details of members whose Aadhaar numbers had been verified and linked were subsequently shared with the State Cooperative Societies Election Commission. “It is now for the government to decide when to conduct the elections,” a senior official said.
The last elections to cooperative societies were held during the AIADMK regime in 2018. The tenure of the elected boards ended in phases between March and September 2023. The cooperative sector has around 1.5 crore members and nearly two lakh elected board members. Tamil Nadu has about 4,500 Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Societies (PACCS), around 6,500 milk cooperative societies and several other types of cooperative institutions.
The delay in conducting cooperative society elections has also affected power-sharing among SC/ST communities and women. A member of a cooperative society pointed out that since 2013, the state government has provided 18% reservation for SC/STs and 30% reservation for women in the boards of directors of cooperative societies. “As the elections have not been conducted, these vulnerable sections continue to remain under-represented,” he said. Through the cooperative elections, members elect the board of directors, president, vice-president and other office-bearers.
S R Venkatesan, a retired joint registrar in the cooperation department, said, “Cooperative societies are democratically governed business institutions. They have a crucial role to play in helping Tamil Nadu achieve its goal of becoming a $1.5 trillion economy by 2036. The government should take steps to enrol new members, strengthen democratic governance and ensure professional management by conducting elections to these societies.”