Constitution of committees

Constitution of committees: [Rule 22,22A,22B,22C,22D,25] (1)

1. (a) The general body of a society shall constitute a committee in accordance with the bye-laws and entrust the management of the affairs of the society to such committee : Provided that in the case of a society registered after the commencement of the Andhra Pradesh Co-operative Societies (Second Amendment) Act, 2001 the persons who have signed the application for the registration of the society shall conduct the affairs of the society for a period of one month from the date of registration and shall cease to conduct the affairs of the society after duly constituting a committee as per the provisions of the Act thereafter: Provided further that where the bye-laws so provide, the Government or the Registrar may nominate all or any of the members of the committee for such period as may be specified therein ;
2. (b) On the Committee of such society or class of societies other than the societies formed exclusively for the persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes or Backward Classes as may be notified by the Government, such number of seats as may be specified by them shall be reserved for the members of the Weaker Section : Provided that in the case of such classes of Societies as may be prescribed, two seats shall be reserved for women in the manner prescribed and such reservation may be made in the reserved and unreserved categories also ; Provided further that in the case of a Primary Agricultural Co-operative Credit Society, a Fanners Service Co-operative Society a Co-operative Farming Society, a Co-operative Central Bank and a District Co-operative Marketing Society, not more than one-half of the total number of seats to be filled by elected members on the committee thereof shall be reserved to be filled by members of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes Backward Classes and Women in such proportion as may be prescribed: Provided also that where no such members are elected in the proportion specified in the foregoing proviso the persons elected as members of the committee shall choose in the prescribed manner the members required to fill up the short fall in the said proportion, from amongst the persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Schedules Tribes, Backward Classes or Women, as the case may be, who are members of the general body of the society : Provided also that in a committee where the number of members elected as aforesaid was fallen short of the said proportion, in respect of any of the categories of the weaker sections, namely, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes or Backward Classes, the persons elected as members of the Committee shall choose in the prescribed manner the members required to fill up the short fall in the said proportion, from amongst the persons belonging to the other categories of weaker sections in such order of priority as may be prescribed. Explanation: For the purposes of this clause

1. (1) the expression ‘members of the weaker sections shall mean the persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes and such other socially and economically backward sections of the community as the Government may, from time to time, notify in this behalf ;
2. (2) in the determination of ‘one half of the total number of members’ any fraction arrived at shall be counted as one.
   • (c) Two women members shall be nominated by the Registrar to the Committee of such class of societies and in such manner as may be prescribed from among the women members belonging to Self-Help Groups, Rythu Mithra Groups and Non-Governmental organizations. Such nominated women members, notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, may take part in proceedings of the meetings of the committee but shall not have the right to vote.
   • (d) One member belonging to minority community, shall be nominated by the Registrar to the Committee of such class of societies and in such manner as may be prescribed from among the members belonging to minority communities. Such nominated members, notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, may take part in proceedings of the meetings of the committee but shall not have the right to vote. (1-A)Notwithstanding anything in this Act or in the bye-laws the societies referred to in Clause
   • (b) of sub-section (1), the Government may, for the purpose of effective implementation of the reservation specified in Clause(b), by rules made in this behalf, provide for the constitution of, and election to, the committees of such societies and all other matters relating thereto, including the division of constituencies, allocation of seats and the choice of persons belonging to weaker sections of the society as members of the committee of any central society from amongst the members of the committees of the societies affiliated to such central society, by the members of the central society in cases where no such person is a member of the general body of such central society.
3. (2) (a) Save as otherwise provided in this Act, the term of office of the committee or any of its members or of the President elected in accordance with the provisions of sub-section
4. (5) shall be five years from the date of election of the members of the committee : Provided that the term of office of five years specified in this clause shall be applicable only to a committee or its members or the President elected in any ordinary election conducted after the commencement of the Andhra Pradesh Co-operative Societies (Second Amendment) Act, 1995 and the term of office of any committee or its members or the President holding office at such commencement shall be the same for which they were elected under the law in force when they were elected.
   • (b) It shall be the duty of the Registrar to hold elections to the office of the members of the committee of a society which received State aid as specified in Section 43 of the Act before the expiry of their term.
   • (c) In respect of other societies it shall be the responsibility of the incumbent committee of such society to hold elections to the office of the members of the committee in the manner specified in the byelaws before the expiry of the term: Provided that where the committee of a society requests the Registrar to hold elections to the office of the members of the committee, the Registrar shall hold elections to the office of the members of the committee in the manner prescribed on payment of costs in advance. (3)
   • (a) In the case of the committee of Co-operative Central Bank, a District Marketing Society, a District Co-operative Wholesale Store, a Centrally sponsored Consumer Co-operative Stores, an apex society and a society formed for a sugar factory or for a spinning mill, such officer of the co-operative department, not below the rank of a Deputy Registrar, as may be authorised by the Registrar in this behalf shall be the election officer and the election of the members of the committee shall be in such manner as may be prescribed.
   • (b) In any other case, the election officer and the manner of election of the members of the committee shall be such as may be prescribed; Provided that where a requisition signed by not less than one-fifth of the total number of members is received by the Registrar to appoint the election officer to conduct the election, the Registrar shall appoint the election officer to conduct the election.
5. (4) (a) For the purpose of electing members to its committee, a society may provide in its bye-laws, for the division of the area of operation of a society into territorial constituencies, or the membership of the society into electoral groups on any other basis, for the number or proportion of members who may be elected to represent each such territorial constituency or electoral group on the committee, and for the manner of election of such representatives.
   • (b) In the absence of such bye-laws, the society may elect members to its committee from among all the members of the society.
6. (5) In the case of such classes of Co-operative Societies as may be prescribed, the President shall, subject to the provisions of Section 21-A, be elected by the members of the committee from among themselves in the manner prescribed.