Multi-State Cooperative Bill In The Offing

The bill will be introduced in the winter session of Parliament in November.

We were assured by the Prime Minister, Planning Commission deputy chairman Madhu Dandavate, law minister Ramakant Khalap, agriculture and cooperation minister Chaturanan Mishra that they hold cooperative movement as vital in rendering social justice, particularly when we have wide disparities between the rich and the poor, said Mohan Dharia, a member of the panel and former deputy chairman of Planning Commission.

The other two members of the panel are the National Dairy Development Board chief V Kurien and former member of Planning Commission L C Jain.

The panel has suggested that the bill should be consistent with the spirit of the Choudhary Brahm Parkash Committee recommendations, prepared in 1990.

The main issue before the government is to meet the basic needs of the masses and the recognition of the cooperative movement can, to a large extent, fulfill this, Dharia said.

Speaking to Business Standard here, Dharia pointed out that no other country has 160 million shareholders in cooperative enterprises spread through agri-businesses, credit societies and banks. Rs 71,000 crore capital is invested in the cooperative sector in India. But unfortunately, the cooperative movement has been neglected, he said. We are not asking for government support in terms of finance. We only want to give impetus to the cooperative movement, Dharia said.