Weeding out fake entries of previous regime, minister’s defence on delay in co-op polls

CHENNAI: Minister for Cooperation KR Periyakaruppan on Tuesday informed that the State government will conduct elections to cooperative societies after completing the Aadhaar linkage process to ensure the authenticity of its members, in line with the Supreme Court's directive.

Responding to a query raised during the debate on demands for grants for his department, the minister clarified that the delay in conducting the elections was due to a large-scale verification drive to eliminate ineligible or fake members enrolled in the societies.

"As per the Supreme Court's order, we are linking ration cards with Aadhaar to identify the members of cooperative societies accurately. This is essential to ensure transparency and fairness in the electoral process. Once this process is completed, the cooperative society elections will be held in a democratic and proper manner," Periyakaruppan said.

He noted that during the previous AIADMK regime, the total number of members in cooperative societies stood at 2.46 crore, many of whom were found to be deceased and fictitious entries were also common.

"After conducting a thorough verification, we have revised the list and brought it down to 1.59 crore genuine members. We want to ensure that only legitimate beneficiaries participate in these elections," he said.

Reiterating the DMK government's commitment to democracy, the minister said, "We are not a party that fears elections. The Chief Minister himself has directed us to proceed with the polls as soon as the verification is complete."

Highlighting the department's performance, Periyakaruppan revealed that crop loans worth Rs 16,140 crore had been disbursed to 18.2 lakh farmers as of March 2025.

Of these, Rs 13,522 crore was provided to 15.2 lakh small and marginal farmers, accounting for 86 per cent of the total disbursed amount. Additionally, jewellery loans for Rs 6,201 crore have been issued to 70.28 lakh people during the current financial year," he said.

The minister also mentioned that Rs 344 crore has been disbursed as micro business loans to 79,152 small-scale entrepreneurs, including flower vendors, fruit sellers, vegetable traders, and petty shop owners.

The Minister informed the House that of the 35,039 fair-price shops operating across the State under the cooperative sector, 6,215 operate from rented buildings.

"2,500 shops are being renovated annually to modernise the infrastructure. 1,850 new outlets have been established over the last four years. Further, sales worth Rs 2,196 crore have been recorded through cooperative Pandaga Salais during the same period. The department also operates 57 fuel stations across the State. Under the Mudhalvar Marundhagam scheme, which aims to provide affordable medicines to the public, the State has launched 1,000 pharmacies. A token subsidy of Rs 3 lakh is provided to entrepreneurs to open these outlets," the minister added.