DesiPundit

Aniruddha quotes from a few articles to make the case that sugar co-operatives in Maharashtra are actually not in taxpayers interest because they are subsidizing the losses of these co-operatives while getting none of the benefits.

Sugar cooperatives have a complicated structure, which makes it possible for them to incur losses but not profits. This is because profits are fully distributed among the members of the cooperative, whereas losses are not; losses accrue to the cooperative. It is bad enough when a cooperative makes losses but when it is shown to be making a loss when it has actually made profits, then the members of the cooperative are being cheated of their share of the profits. In addition, the burden on the government rises because the government bears the losses of the sugar cooperatives and also provides subsidies.

The other issue is - shouldn’t any entity that receives subsidies not open its books to the general public and show exactly how the funds are being used?