Kathmandu. Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) leader Dev Gurung has said that the cooperatives } are only focused on saving and loan mobilization and investing in unproductive sectors. Gurung said this while speaking at the launch of a book titled ‘Cooperative Thuggiko Jaco’ written by Manoj Bhatta.

He also said that most of the cooperatives do business in real estate. He also alleged that the cooperative sector in Nepal has gone beyond its original concept.

Gurung claimed that about 65 percent of the cooperatives are focused only on savings and loan transactions. He said that the focus on cooperative microfinance or quasi-banking model has weakened the investment in the productive sector.

He stressed that the cooperatives should increase their investment in the productive sector. He said that at present, the cooperative’s investment is not focused on agriculture, domestic and industrial production. He claimed that about 40 to 50 percent of the total loan investment has gone to real estate. He said that the investment in real estate is unproductive investment. He said that hardly 10 to 15 percent of the investment in agricultural production has been made.

He said that about 30 to 35 percent of the investment has gone to the service-oriented sector and the investment of cooperatives in the industrial sector is only about 0.85. He said that the state should ensure the market for the goods produced by the cooperatives for the development of production-based cooperatives.

Gurung said that strict regulation and legal provisions are necessary to solve the problems seen in the cooperative sector. He said that the state needs to adopt a policy to protect the market of agriculture and other commodities produced by cooperatives along with cooperatives.