BHUBANESWAR: The office of the registrar of cooperative societies (RCS) has directed the auditor general of cooperative societies (AGCS) to conduct a special audit into alleged financial irregularities by Smruti Multipurpose Cooperative Society at Naharkanta in Bhubaneswar during the last five years from 2019 to 2024.
The directive was based on the recommendation of the assistant registrar of cooperative societies (ARCS) who detected serious financial mismanagement by the cooperative society after an inquiry.
An inquiry into Smruti Multipurpose Cooperative Society (SMCS) was ordered by the deputy registrar of cooperative societies, Khurda division, following complaint from a depositor that the secretary of the society and other staff were not cooperating to refund her deposit money.
According to the inquiry report, the petitioner Anjali Sahoo and her husband Raghunath Sahoo have fixed and recurring deposits amounting to Rs 43 lakh in the cooperative society. The couple alleged they not only faced non-cooperation from the society staff whenever they made request for withdrawal of their deposit but were also reportedly harassed by them.
The Sahoo couple had to wait for a long time to get their deposits back as the secretary of the society was arrested by the Economic Offence Wing and sent to judicial custody. The petitioner was assured that she would get back her deposit after the release of the secretary.
“The petitioner cooperated with the society and even assisted in securing bail for the secretary. However, after his (secretary’s) release, repeated attempts by the petitioner and her husband to get back their deposit were met with non-cooperation and ill-treatment from the society staff. Other depositors were also unable to reclaim their deposits,” the inquiry report of the ARCS said.
Meanwhile, the petitioner with a deposit of over Rs 24.58 lakh has got a refund of Rs 5.5 lakh while her husband is awaiting a refund of over Rs 17.47 lakh. While the society has a deposit of Rs 21.59 crore, it has loan outstanding of about Rs 21.32 crore. Since the financial condition of the society is very unsound, a special audit of its account is required to find out the actual financial position of the society, the inquiry report said.