Irregularities and corrupt practices have gripped cooperative societies in the country in the absence of effective regulations and supervision of the government, the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has said.
As a result, operators of many cooperative societies are taking away billions of taka from members of the public, the TIB in a research report said Tuesday.
Local chapter of the Berlin-based Transparency International released the research report titled 'Cooperative Management: Challenges of Good Governance and Ways to Overcome' through a press conference at a city hotel.
TIB deputy programme managers (research and policy) Mohammad Hossain and Nihar Ranjan Roy jointly unveiled the findings of the study, which was carried out in 11 upazilas of eight districts under six divisions and collected data from 37 cooperatives.
Citing various media reports, it said around Tk 90.70 billion of investors' money was swindled by the cooperatives and the money-lending organisations over the last one year.
"According to news reports published in newspapers from March 10, 2013 to March 25, 2014, some 21 multiple cooperatives and lending associations embezzled about Tk 90.70 billion invested by their 0.9 million members and investors," Mr Nihar Ranjan Roy said while presenting the report.
He said the country has 186,199 cooperatives having around 9.4 million members and 47 per cent of them is inactive because of various limitations of regulatory and supervising bodies and internal problems of the cooperatives.
Mr Mohammad Hossain said unethical financial transaction was reported during the process of registration, auditing, inspection and transfer of employees by capitalising the opportunities of poor monitoring and accountability.
Citing the report findings, he said a cooperative society at upazila and district levels illegally pays money ranging from Tk 8,000 to Tk 10,000 to get itself registered.
"And the amount could go up to Tk 80,000 in terms of working areas," he said, adding that the registered society on an average pay kickbacks of Tk 2,000 to do auditing at upazila level, Tk 20,000 at divisional level and nearly Tk 30,000 at metropolitan level.
In terms of inspection of the society, the inspectors unethically take Tk 1,000 at district level and Tk 3,000 at metropolitan areas, he mentioned.
The report said cooperative officials and employees, besides political lobbying, need to pay around Tk 50,000 to ensure posting at his/her desired areas and nearly Tk 0.5 million at metropolitan areas.
Talking about the issue, TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said the government should pay serious attention to this important issue as contribution of cooperatives to the GDP (gross domestic product) is around 1.88 per cent.
"Operators of the societies maintain dual accounts -- one for auditing and another for themselves, leading to the malpractices," he said, adding that the cooperative society is becoming the source of investment of undisclosed money as the investors do not pay taxes and show source of their income.
"The trend of such unethical practices has gradually been going up in the absence of the government's due guidelines and proper observation strategy," he added.
Speaking at the press conference, TIB Chairperson Advocate Sultana Kamal said the country's Constitution highlights the vital role the cooperatives play in the economy but these have become a less important issue now.
"Our economy is very much dependent on foreign assistance. But it is being squeezed day by day. The cooperatives should be made effective and free from corruption to reduce dependency on foreign aid," she said.
The study suggested updating of the existing Cooperatives Rules to make the cooperatives effectively functional and ensure transparency.
The TIB also put forward 12-point recommendation, including revision of cooperative guidelines having clear instructions to prevent corruption, formation of complete auditing department and ethics committee under the Department of Cooperatives to ensure transparency and accountability in its activities.
TIB Deputy Executive Director Dr Sumaiya Khair and Director (Policy and Research) Rafiqul Hasan were also present.
Cooperatives, money lenders swindle Tk 90.70b in a year
FE Report | Published: April 16, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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