Major national cooperatives today demanded that they should be kept out of the proposed direct tax code and continued to be given income tax exemption.

They sought early approval to the Constitutional Amendment Bill on cooperative that was tabled in Parliament two years back.

"Cooperatives should be kept out of the direct tax code that is to be operationalised in 2012 and the income tax exemption that is being provided under section 80 B should be continued," National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) President Chandrapal Singh Yadav told reporters on the sidelines of the North Zone Cooperative Conference.

On cooperatives demand to exempt them from direct tax code, Minister of State for Agriculture Arun Yadav said, "we will approach the Finance Minister and discuss it with him."

Besides, NCUI representatives from IFFCO, KRIBHCO and Nafed were present in the conference.

The Constitutional Amendment Bill proposes that the members of cooperatives should be elected and also fixes the tenure of cooperatives to five years across the country.

Chandrapal Yadav said that the Bill also provides freedom to cooperatives to appoint their own independent auditors to check their accounts.

The day-long conference was held to review the progress and achievements of various sectors of the cooperatives and the challenges faced by them.

Arun Yadav, who inaugurated the conference, called upon cooperatives to maintain their identity to withstand the challenges posed by multi-national companies.

He said that the government has already accepted the recommendations of the Vaidyanathan Committee for strengthening the cooperative sector.