Cooperative Governance

From enabling access to credit and inputs to farmers, cooperatives today are expanding into diverse sectors

India has over 800,000 cooperative societies, comprising around 200,000 cooperatives and 600,000 non-credit cooperatives

Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday suggested the Maharashtra government to formulate a new law for the cooperative sector in the state considering the evolving economic conditions. The cooperative sector would play a key role in improving the financial condition of people from rural areas, he said, and urged the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank, the apex cooperative bank in the state, to study the socio-economic impact of the cooperative movement in the state. Addressing a public function here, Gadkari said, "It is my request to Maharashtra chief minister and deputy chief minister to come up with a revised act for the cooperative sector. We must find a golden mean between the Cooperative Act and the Companies Act and formulate a new legislation accordingly." "There is a need to amend the laws governing cooperative establishments to align with evolving economic conditions," he said. The Road Transport and Highways Minister said the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank should ...

In a veiled swipe at previous Congress-led governments, Union minister Amit Shah said on Sunday that the cooperative movement had remained in shambles as laws were not tweaked for years and "almost died" until the Modi government took decisive action. Addressing a state-level cooperative conference in Bhopal, Shah said the erstwhile governments never considered bolstering the cooperative sector. On the occasion, an agreement was signed between the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and Madhya Pradesh State Co-operative Dairy Federation to enhance milk production in the state. "For years, the cooperative movement was moving slowly and turned almost dead. Looking at the cooperative movement nationwide, it was uneven (in the past)," he said. Highlighting the challenges, Shah said the cooperative movement had remained in shambles as laws were not tweaked accordingly. He said the movement gained traction only after 75 years of independence when Prime Minister Narendra Modi formed

The scheme which was notified today is expected to directly benefit almost 63 cooperative sugar mills in the country which have distilleries attached with them

He further said India sees a huge role for cooperatives in its future growth and in the last 10 years the country has worked to transform the entire ecosystem related to cooperatives

The Federation is introducing its dairy products at a discount to key competitors' products in a bid to gain a foothold in the new market

Union minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday that 6.5 crore rural families involved in milk production are outside the ambit of the cooperative sector and face exploitation as they are not getting a fair price. Shah said that only 1.5 crore out of 8 crore rural families involved in dairy farming are part of the cooperative sector and asked the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) to ensure that they all get the full value of their produce. The Union Cooperation Minister addressed a function in Anand, Gujarat, to mark the Diamond Jubilee Year of NDDB and the birth anniversary of Tribhuvandas Patel, the founder of the AMUL cooperative. "Today 8 crore rural families produce milk daily, however, only 1.5 crore have joined the cooperative sector. This means the remaining 6.5 crore are still being exploited, they are not getting a fair price. Many times, they have to throw away milk," Shah said. Our job is to ensure that all 8 crore farmers get the full value of their hard work through th

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has described the meeting of NDA leaders in Chandigarh on Thursday as the largest get-together of non-Congress political parties post 1975, the year Emergency was imposed, and called for holding such a conclave twice every year, a BJP statement said. Making a point about the deeper connect his government enjoys with people compared to the previous Congress-led UPA government, he said at the meeting that he has received over 4.5 crore letters in the past 10 years compared to only 5 lakh letters received by his predecessor. Manmohan Singh headed the UPA government during 2004-14. This reflects people's trust in his government, he said. Modi said at the conclave attended by 17 chief ministers and 18 deputy chief ministers from the BJP and its several allies that smooth governance, fast decision-making and transparency in governance have helped in attracting investors and investment in the states ruled by the NDA. The NDA is fulfilling the rising aspiration

CM Yadav says MoU with NDDB to boost milk procurement prices in 11,000 villages across the state

The new National Cooperative Policy is almost ready and will be announced in the next 2-3 months, a top cooperation ministry official said on Monday. "We are in the last stage of finalising the new national cooperative policy. The policy will be announced in the next 2-3 months," Cooperation Secretary Ashish Kumar Bhutani told reporters on the sidelines of an event. A 47-member committee, headed by former Union minister Suresh Prabhu, has prepared the draft policy after consultation with stakeholders. "Now, further discussions are being held to finalise the policy," he added. The Secretary also informed that around 65,000 functional Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) will be computerised by February next year. The New National Cooperation Policy aims to realise the vision of 'Sahakar se Samriddhi', promoting the cooperative-based economic development model, strengthening the cooperative movement in the country and deepening its reach up to the grassroots.

India will host for the first time the general assembly of International Cooperative Alliance along with a global conference in November this year, a move aimed at strengthening the cooperative movement in the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been requested to inaugurate the event, which is scheduled to be held in the national capital during November 25-30. Around 1,500 distinguished guests from over 100 countries will participate. International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) is the voice for cooperatives worldwide. It is a non-profit international association established in 1895 to advance the cooperative social enterprise model. Fertiliser cooperative IFFCO has taken the initiative to host the ICA General Assembly and Global Cooperative Conference. IFFCO MD U S Awasthi said the conference will be used to showcase Indian Cooperatives' products and services in the 'Haat' setup with the theme of Indian Village. He said this event will be totally "carbon neutral". To compensate

The mega event will be held at Bharat Mandapam and will be inaugurated by Cooperatives Minister Amit Shah

Gujarat has successfully steered the pilot of 'Cooperation Among Cooperatives' initiative in Banaskantha and Panchmahal districts.In a landmark decision, the central government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi established a dedicated Ministry of Cooperation to strengthen the cooperatives nationwide, affirming the path of 'Sahkar Se Samridhhi'.According to a press release, under the successful leadership of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Gujarat has successfully steered the pilot of 'Cooperation Among Cooperatives' initiative in Banaskantha and Panchmahal districts.Notably under this initiative, envisioned by Union Home & Cooperation Minister Amit Shah, over 4 lakh new accounts were opened by cooperative societies and their active members in the District Cooperative Banks of these two districts, resulting in a jump of over Rs. 966 crores in the bank deposits.Significance of Cooperation Amongst Cooperatives ModelThe initiative aims to enhance cooperation among Gujarat's ...

Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said the Centre has set a target to have a co-operative bank and a milk producers' union in each district of the country and also establish in the next five years multipurpose primary agriculture credit societies (PACS) in two lakh panchayats that have no cooperative institution. Addressing the 'Sahkar se Samriddhi' (Prosperity through Cooperation) programme organised to mark the 102nd International Day of Cooperatives, Shah thanked the Gujarat government for announcing a subsidy of 50 percent on Nano-urea and Nano-DAP and said their use will increase production and save the soil. He said the cooperative sector is making very important contribution in the rural and agricultural economy, and urged for the promotion of 'cooperation among cooperative' institutions. "The Union Ministry of Cooperation has taken many important steps. The government has set a target that there should not be any state or district in the country where there is

Amul has expanded from 19 operational ice cream plants until last year to 25, having invested more than Rs 1,000 crore this year in capacity. It aims to double ice cream capacity in two years

World Cooperation Economic Forum is targeting to establish 500 campus cooperatives in universities across the country to attract youth to this movement. According to a statement on Saturday, World Cooperation Economic Forum (WCopEF), along with the National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) and Confederation of NGOs of Rural India (CNRI), will work to establish and promote 'Campus Cooperative' across various universities in the country. Under the new initiative, the forum said that it is planning to set up a 'Campus Cooperative' at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in the national capital. "There is a much greater emphasis on the cooperative sector across the country, but the participation of youths holds the key to taking the movement forward," Dileep Sanghani, Founder of WCopEF, said. "Campus Cooperative could just be the right approach to attract talented youths to the sector and propel it to greater heights," said Sanghani, who is also the Chairman of IFFCO, and President of ..

Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said the three new cooperative societies -- NCOL, NCEL and BBSSL -- will help solve many problems of Indian agriculture and enhance farmers' income by promoting exports of farm products, including organic foods. He was speaking after inaugurating the new office building of three national level multi-state cooperative societies -- Bhartiya Beej Sahakari Samiti Ltd (BBSSL), National Cooperative Organics Ltd (NCOL) and National Cooperative Export Ltd (NCEL) at World Trade Centre, Nauroji Nagar here. Shah stressed on the need to promote organic and natural farming, while discouraging use of chemical fertilisers. He announced that there will be a laboratory in every district over the next five years to certify organic farm and products. Shah said NCOL will promote organic farming in the country apart from cooperative Amul, which has already introduced many organic products in the market. He noted that the total global organic market is Rs 10

Grain storage facilities will benefit all stakeholders

Speaking on occasion, Union Minister for Cooperation and Home, Amit Shah thanked the Prime Minister for facilitating investments to strengthen PACS