A bill which seeks to amend the law on multi-state cooperative societies was on Tuesday referred to the joint committee of Parliament, with home minister Amit Shah saying 21 members will be from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha.

The Committee will submit its report to the Lok Sabha in the first week of the second part of the Budget session (which usually begins in March), Shah said in the Lower House.

The Multi-State Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which seeks to bring transparency and accountability in the sector, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 7 and Opposition members had demanded that it be referred to a standing committee for review.

The bill also seeks to strengthen governance, reform the electoral process, improve the monitoring mechanism, and ensure ease of doing business in multi-state co-operative societies. Opposition MPs had alleged that the measure would encroach on the rights of state governments.

The 21 members from the Lok Sabha who would be part of the joint committee include Kanimozhi Karunanidhi (DMK), Kalyan Banerjee (TMC), Chandra Prakash Joshi (BJP), and Manish Tewari (Congress).

In short

■ 21 members will be from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha in the committee.

■ The committee will submit its report in the first week of the second part of the Budget session