Pune: State cooperation minister Babasaheb Patil has directed the cooperation department to rework and resubmit the draft Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Rules after incorporating minor changes suggested at a review meeting last week. The draft rules, published earlier this year, are critical for enforcing amendments made in 2019 to the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1961.In their absence, cooperative housing societies continue to operate under outdated provisions, leaving reforms pending on paper. “I took a detailed review regarding the draft rules and suggested some minor changes. These will now be included before resubmission,” Patil told TOI on Wednesday.Among his revisions are reduced registration fees for smaller housing societies and clear guidelines for recording attendance in online annual general body meetings.State cooperation commissioner Deepak Taware confirmed that the changes would be made before the proposal is placed again for final notification. “The minister’s suggestions are not major, but they will be incorporated and resubmitted,” Taware said.The tweaks, besides the registration fee for small housing societies, include provisions on common amenities charges, investment of surplus funds, and the mandatory education fund.The state invited objections and suggestions in April, but notification is still awaited.“Without the rules, statutory rights remain illusory. This goes against Article 43B of the Constitution, which requires the state to promote voluntary formation, democratic control, and professional management of cooperative housing societies,” a state housing federation member said.Housing society representatives said they hope the govt does not drag its feet further. “There is a lot of talk, but little movement. We hope it does not take until the year-end,” said SK Aina, a committee member of a Camp-based society.Glitches hit online deemed conveyance portalThe state’s plan to digitise deemed conveyance applications has stumbled, with Pratyay MahaBhumi portal facing persistent technical glitches. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis launched the platform in May to simplify the process.Cooperation officials admitted that the portal has not been functioning smoothly and said they are coordinating with developers to resolve the issues. “At least the stage of issuing notices for deemed conveyance should soon go online, while hearings will continue physically until fixes are in place,” a senior official told TOI.The portal was expected to allow over 70,000 eligible housing societies to complete the entire process — from application and document upload to scrutiny, hearing schedules, and issuance of final orders — without repeated visits to the deputy registrar’s office.
