Co-OPEllATIVE CllEDIT SOCIETIES ACT AMENDMENT BlLL, 1911. 



Statement- of Objects and Reasons. 



WHEN the Bill, which subsequently became the Act of 190-1, was 

 published, the following remarks were made in the Statement of 

 Objects and Reasons :" Legislation is called for not only in order to 

 lay down the fundamental conditions which must be observed, but also 

 with a view to giving such societies a corporate existence without 

 resort to the elaborate provisions of the Companies Act; but it is 

 thought that legislation should be confined within the narrowest 

 possible limits. The Bill has, therefore, been drawn so as to deal only 

 with those points which the Government consider to be essential, and 

 its provisions have been expressed in simple and general terms, a wide 

 rule-making power being reserved to Local Governments, so that what 

 is felt to be of the nature of an experiment may be tried in each province 

 or part of a province on such lines as seem to afford most promise of 

 success" : and these principles were followed in the Act as passed. 



2. The adequacy of the existing Act was examined at a 

 Conference of Registrars of Co-operative Credit Societies in 1009, 

 and it was held that the Act still remained in many ways unduly 

 restricted, and that it also required certain alterations in detail which 

 had been suggested by experts since 1904. The Conference of 

 Registrars drew up proposals for the amendment of the Act, and after 

 consulting Local Governments on these proposals the Government of 

 India have prepared the Bill now published. The chief changes 

 contemplated by the Government of India are four in number : 



(/) The Act of 1 904 applies to Societies for the purpose of 

 co-operative credit only, and not to Co-operative Societies 

 of other kinds, such as those established for production 

 or distribution. It has in practice been found that the 

 establishment of Credit Societies has led to th<L founding 



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of other classes of Co-operative Societies also, /and it is 

 advisable that the privileges extended by the Act to 

 Co-operative Credit Societies should be extended to these 

 other Societies. It is proposed therefore that the Act as 

 now revised should be made applicable to all classes o 

 Co-operative Societies vide clause 1 (1) and clause 4 of 

 the Bill. 



