Job Creation Was The Purpose Of The Merger

Al-Seyassah has been informed by the Ministry of Social Affairs that the Ministry is committed to ensuring that cooperative societies have the opportunity to appoint citizens as supervisors. Sources clarified that cooperatives with limited budgets who are unable to accommodate citizen appointments will be encouraged to merge two or more of their departments. To streamline their budgets, suitable citizens will be appointed to these positions after the merger. Prior to making any decisions, these cooperatives will need to communicate with the Ministry, assessing their financial situation. When associations face budgetary constraints, the Ministry will determine what course of action to take.

Moreover, the Ministry has issued a directive to all cooperatives, in collaboration with the Federation of Cooperative Societies, to standardize their organizational structure, which consists of ten departments in addition to the Director-General, Deputy Director-General for Commercial Affairs, and Deputy Director-General for Financial and Administrative Affairs. As the Ministry has made clear, appointing citizens to supervisory roles is non-negotiable, and the policy will be strictly enforced.

In the event that cooperatives fail to announce or report vacant supervisory positions to the Ministry, they may be subject to judicial investigations and suspension of their financial accreditation. Non-compliant cooperatives have already been subjected to 14 legal actions by the Ministry. As part of its transparency efforts, the Ministry is considering scheduling interviews for citizens applying for these positions over two days each week. Last Wednesday, the Ministry received 24 applications for the Deputy Director-General position at Nuzha Cooperative. A number of other applicants from different associations will also be interviewed this week.