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Yaduveer Seeks Centre’s Intervention to Rescue Kodagu Coffee Growers’ Cooperative Society
- Kodagu Express Bureau
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
New Delhi: Mysuru-Kodagu MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar has stepped in to seek urgent relief for the Kodagu Coffee Growers’ Cooperative Society, which is reeling under a severe financial crisis threatening its survival.
The society, which has been serving coffee farmers in Kodagu, Mysuru, and neighbouring districts since 1956, is now burdened with mounting debt and interest dues. During his recent visit to New Delhi, Yaduveer submitted a memorandum to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, urging the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Finance to provide immediate assistance.
According to the MP, the society has been a lifeline for nearly 10,000 to 12,000 small and medium coffee growers and indirectly supports about 40,000 families, including estate workers. Over the decades, it has played a pivotal role in marketing produce, offering credit, and sustaining the livelihoods of farming communities. However, market fluctuations coupled with inadequate financial backing led to a loss of ₹6.85 crore in 1995–96, triggering a cycle of debt that has now reached a critical point.
According to Yaduveer, The Coffee Board, through an order dated September 12, 2011, had directed the society to pay ₹1.55 crore as interest. Later, in 2015, the board communicated that if the principal was cleared, the interest dues would be waived. Acting on this assurance, the society paid ₹1.55 crore in December 2015. Yet, two years later in 2017, the board levied an additional demand of ₹5.83 crore towards interest and related charges.
“This repeated imposition of dues has crippled the society’s finances. It has accumulated losses of ₹13.13 crore and is unable to bear the crushing interest burden,” Yaduveer stated in his X post. He warned that compelling the society to pay the fresh demands would push it into bankruptcy, with devastating consequences for nearly one lakh people whose livelihoods are tied to its operations.
Appealing for urgent relief, the MP requested the Union Commerce Ministry to honour the 2015 assurance and recommend a waiver of the interest. He also urged coordination with the Finance Ministry to work out a sustainable solution.
“The society is in a precarious condition with no stable source of income. Immediate government intervention is vital to protect small growers and safeguard this historic cooperative,” Mr. Yaduveer said, expressing confidence that timely support would help rescue the institution from collapse and secure the future of thousands of coffee growers and workers in his constituency.
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