SURKHET, OCT 5: The Surkhet office of Shiva Sikhar Multi-Purpose Cooperative collected more than Rs 190 million from its depositors while investing only Rs 6.6 million in loans.
According to the Problematic Cooperative Management Committee (PCMC), the cooperative collected more than Rs 192 million from 7,399 depositors of Birendranagar in Surkhet. The committee has found that the cooperative has invested only Rs 6.633 million of the deposited amount.
Kashichandra Baral, a member of the PCMC, said that the property of the cooperative is being searched. He informed Republica that the committee has initiated an evaluation of the materials in the Birendranagar office of the cooperative and the Garden Mart operated by the cooperative along with a search for other assets.
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Earlier, the committee was invited to take the materials in the mart operated by the cooperative and match their worth to the savings of the members. A total of 23 petitions were received asking that the items in the mart be matched with the savings.
“Out of 7,399 members, only 153 people have applied for the return of their savings,” Baral told Republica.
The mart operated by the cooperative has items including food, alcoholic beverages, fancy items, utensils, and shoes. Most of the food items have expired. “Looking at the mart and decoration installed, the property seems to be worth Rs 10 million ,” Baral said, “However, due to the low number of applications for return of savings, we have not been able to move forward with liquidating the property.”
The committee has also not assessed the cooperative-owned godowns and vehicles behind Shubh Hotel near the mart. “It is not clear what goods are in the godown, two four-wheelers owned by the cooperative have been reported to be with a petrol pump in Surkhet,” Baral said, “Only after we have assessed the godown and the vehicles, can we move forward with returning the savings of the depositors.”
He added that the committee has decided to release information of the property for the depositors who want to match the savings with the items available in the mart.
“When the information was released for the first time, only 23 people applied, so we thought of asking for more applications through an online system,” he said.
Shiva Shikhar Cooperative collected a savings of Rs 50 million through its branch office at Mehelkuna in East Surkhet. It has been found that the cooperative only invested Rs 1.222 million from the total amount deposited at the branch.
