TEAM HERALD
PONDA: After being defunct for nearly a decade, the State’s lone Cooperative Printing Press (CPP) at Tisk-Ponda is on the road to recovery following government intervention.
According to information, the CPP was started in 1971 to provide print and stationery material to cooperative societies and banks at reasonable rates.
However, due to alleged mismanagement from the previous managing committees, the printing press began to run into losses over the years and ultimately went defunct.
In February, the State’s cooperation department appointed a three-member administrative committee, with Hemant Kathane as chairman and Inacio Coelho and Dattatray Naik as members, in an effort to revive the CPP.
“When the CPP started, it was functioning smoothly but since the last 10 years it is in a mess. The CPP is the lone press of its kind in the cooperative sector,” said Kathane, while addressing media persons at Ponda.
The administrative committee, headed by Kathane, claimed to have revived the fortunes of the CPP and even managed to generate a profit of about Rs 1.1 lakh.
“There were no proper records maintained at the office. Through the available records, we gathered that the CPP had run into a loss of about Rs 10-12 lakh. After we took over, we managed to improve the condition and profits have touched Rs 1.1 lakh,” claimed Kathane.
In a bid to generate further profit, Kathane informed that apart from cooperative societies and banks, the CPP will also take orders from private firms and aims to achieve a turnover of about Rs 1 crore per year.
“There is only one monochrome offset printing machine, which had to be repaired and now, we are planning to purchase new machinery,” informed Kathane.
When contacted, Minster for Cooperation Deepak Dhavlikar said his department had appointed the committee to revive the defunct unit and warned that those responsible for allowing the CPP to run into huge losses would have to face the music.
“There was a financial mess and action will be taken against those responsible. After the inquiry, the department will file a police complaint against the former chairman and the board of directors, if required,” Dhavlikar told Herald.
