Page 2 - Cooperative Governance

Centre will give all help to Maha's cooperative sector: Minister Verma

Union minister BL Verma on Saturday said the Centre will provide all help for the development of the cooperative sector in Maharashtra. The Union minister of state for cooperation was speaking at the Maharashtra State Urban Cooperative Banks Conference (MSUCBC) 2023-24 being held here. "Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and guidance of Union Minister for Cooperation Amit Shah, many steps have been taken for development in the country through the medium of cooperation. The Union government will provide all help for development of the cooperative sector in Maharashtra," Verma said. He said the Narendra Modi government had created a separate ministry for cooperation, which was ensuring all stakeholders were getting support and solutions were being found for problems facing the sector. Speaking on the occasion, Union minister of state for health Bharti Pawar said the government must provide help to the Nashik District Central Cooperative Bank so that the institution

Cooperatives will have big share in targeted $5 trn Indian economy: Shah

Union Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said the aim is to ensure the cooperative sector has a big share in the Indian economy, which is projected to be USD 5 trillion by FY28, as the cooperative movement did not grow at the desired pace in the last 75 years. Shah, the Union Cooperation Minister, was addressing after inaugurating the new office of Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies (CRCS) spread over 41,000 square feet at the World Trade Centre, Nauroji Nagar in South Delhi. The building has been developed by state-owned NBCC. Shah said the new office has been acquired for Rs 175 crore. The minister highlighted that the government has taken 60 major initiatives in the last 30 months for the growth of the cooperative movement. The Cooperation Ministry was set up in July 2021. Shah said there are success stories of cooperatives since independence but the sector did not grow at a fast pace. "Now we have decided that in Modiji's USD 5 trillion economy, cooperatives will have a b

Cooperative sector sees opening of new avenues for expansion in 2023

The year 2023 saw a newly set up cooperation ministry coming out with several initiatives including model bye-laws for making PACS multipurpose and a national cooperative body to promote exports in a bid to give further boost to the cooperative movement and open new avenues for the cooperative societies for expansion. Set up in July 2021, the new ministry under the leadership of Amit Shah took historical steps for strengthening the cooperative sector in a short span of time, an official statement said. "To strengthen the cooperative movement, the Ministry of Cooperation has taken 54 major initiatives, through which all cooperative societies are getting new possibilities for their economic development and expansion," it said. Among the key initiatives taken this year, the ministry said it came out with a draft Model Bye-Laws for Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) on January 5, 2023, in order to increase their source of income and create new employment opportunities in more

BBSSL will strive to protect India's indigenous seeds, says Amit Shah

Highlighting the need to provide quality certified seeds to farmers, Shah said that BBSSL has been established to boost domestic production as well as exports of certified seeds

NCEL gets Rs 7,000 cr orders, to share profit with member farmers: Shah

Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Monday said the newly established National Cooperative for Exports Ltd (NCEL) has bagged orders worth Rs 7,000 crore so far and the export body will share at least 50 per cent profit with member farmers over and above the support price. NCEL, which was established on January 25, is negotiating orders worth Rs 15,000 crore, he said after launching a logo, website and brochure of the cooperative export body. NCEL will help cooperative societies tap the global export market and handhold them to produce and manufacture products that comply with international standards, he added. There are about 8 lakh cooperative societies in the country with over 29 crore members. "Currently, NCEL is operating from a temporary office. We are recruiting staffers. So far, we (NCEL) have received orders of Rs 7,000 crore and negotiating orders worth Rs 15,000 crore," Shah said while addressing a national symposium here. NCEL will purchase commodities to be exported from

NCCF should change biz approach to achieve Rs 50,000 cr turnover: Shah

Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Friday directed National Cooperative Consumers' Federation (NCCF) to change its business approach to achieve a turnover of Rs 50,000 crore by 2027-28. Shah, addressing the Board of Directors of NCCF here, said the NCCF should prepare a roadmap for the next 10 years to become a self-reliant cooperative institution. "He said the Ministry of Cooperation will provide its full support to NCCF in implementing such a roadmap," an official statement said. The minister said the NCCF should emphasise on making Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) and other cooperative institutions across the country its members so as to ensure that the proportion of cooperatives in the share of capital of NCCF is relatively higher. "For this purpose, NCCF will have to develop its business plan and change its business approach... NCCF should... achieve a turnover of Rs 50,000 crore by 2027-28," Shah said. The minister also laid special emphasis on ensuring procuremen

40 new schemes will revolutionize cooperative sector in HP: Ministry

Aiming to revolutionize the cooperative sector of the state, about 40 new schemes have been initiated in collaboration with the Union Ministry of Cooperation, an official said on Saturday. The Department of Cooperation has commissioned various new initiatives for Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS) of the state, Secretary (Cooperation) C Palrasu said. The major initiatives include PACS as Jan Aushadhi Kendras, wherein generic medicines will be made available to the rural population at cheap rates. Almost 50 PACS have applied to get Jan Aushadhi Kendra in the state. In PACS as a common service centre scheme, the societies will function as Lok Mitra kendras, that will help the rural population in getting various kinds of certificates timely and cheaply at their doorstep. More than 80 societies are now functioning as common service centres in the state, a statement issued here said. Recently LPG and petrol pump retail licences have also been opened for PACS, he said and added

WCopEF formed to give voice to over 3 mn cooperatives across globe

Leading cooperative sector experts have come together to form the World Cooperative Economic Forum (WCopEF) to give voice to over three million cooperatives spread across the globe, employing 10 per cent of the total workforce worldwide. The WCopEF will endeavour to promote cooperative thinking and cooperative movement, in addition to raising issues and concerns of the sector with the governments and other stakeholders around the globe. "WCopEF journey is starting at the juncture of ideation of an equitable economy, tempered by pragmatism. We are transitioning to a new engagement with the international cooperative economic order," Dileep Bhai Shanghai, one of the founder members of the Forum, said in a statement. Shanghai, Chairman of the fertilizer major IFFCO and President of National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI), had also earlier served as a member of parliament and a Minister in the Government of Gujarat. The other founder members of the WCEF are Binod Anand, member MSP ..

NCDC to achieve financial disbursement target of Rs 50,000 cr in FY24: Shah

Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Monday exuded confidence that the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) will achieve a financial disbursement target of Rs 50,000 crore in the current 2023-24 fiscal. NCDC, an implementing agency for various central government schemes, disbursed financial assistance of more than Rs 41,000 crore in 2022-23. Addressing the 89th General Council meeting of the NCDC, Shah said, "NCDC is set to achieve 10 times growth in the disbursement of financial assistance in the current financial year from Rs 5,300 crore in 2013-14". "With such an impressive performance, I am confident that the NCDC will be able to achieve the target of Rs 50,000 crore kept for the 2023-2024 fiscal," he said in a statement. Shah said it is a matter of pride that the net non-performing assets (NPA) of NCDC are maintained at 'zero' with a loan recovery rate being over 99 per cent for the 2022-23 fiscal. The minister also said that the NCDC should set a target of achiev

Govt to computerise state cooperative registrars, 1,851 ARDBs under CSS

The government on Sunday announced it will computerise state cooperative registrars and 1,851 offices of Agriculture and Rural Development Banks (ARDBs) under a scheme with a budget of Rs 225.09 crore. Currently, the government is computerising all Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS) in the country. "On the lines of the computerisation scheme of all PACS in the country, a centrally sponsored scheme has been approved for computerisation of 1,851 units of ARDBs of 13 states through a national unified software," the cooperation ministry said in a statement. The government has also decided to computerise the offices of Registrar of Cooperatives of all states and Union Territories, it said. A Central Project Monitoring Unit (PMU) will be established, which will work towards the successful implementation of the scheme. "The total estimated expenditure for this scheme will be Rs 225.09 crore," the statement said. The implementation of this scheme will not only enable people to ..

Cooperative sector hurt by political interference in the past: Amit Shah

Union minister Amit Shah on Saturday said the co-operative sector was "not irrelevant", but it was hurt by political interference in the past. The Narendra Modi government's decision to de-link it from the agriculture ministry gave the sector a tremendous boost, he said. Shah, who also handles the co-operation portfolio alongside the home ministry, was delivering the Laxmanrao Inamdar Memorial Lecture at Mumbai University. Co-operation is a human-centric model where people with minimum capital can contribute to the economy by coming together and compete with those who have access to more funds, he said. He also said that the Modi government brought into mainstream some 60 crore people who did not have bank accounts and were part of the informal economy. The cooperative movement must absorb modern technologies, he said, adding that "mass production and production by masses" is required.

Ensure 60% DAP allocation to cooperative societies, orders Punjab CS

The Punjab Chief Secretary Thursday issued directions for ensuring the allocation of 60 per cent di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) to cooperative societies in the state. In an order issued on Thursday, the CS stated that it was of utmost necessity that the cooperative societies should have DAP in adequate quantity as the possibility of exploitation of farmers by private traders may increase in the event of a shortage of fertilizer with the societies. Small farmers get soft loans at the rate of 4 per cent from cooperative societies and with this, they can buy fertilizer, said the order, adding that if cooperative societies remain short of fertilizer then it will impact small farmers. It added that the cooperative societies were given very little fertilizer from the first week of July till now. The order further said that it should be ensured that 60 per cent of the total DAP for the state should be made available with the cooperative societies by September 15 for wheat sowing. With the .

Govt committed to strengthen cooperatives, treat them equally: Amit Shah

PM Modi government is committed to strengthening the cooperatives and treating them equally with other economic entities: Shah

Centre planning export houses exclusively for cooperatives: Amit Shah

Cooperative model of development is best suited for the country, says union minister

Govt doesn't want to meddle in state coop laws; hopes for uniformity: Shah

Says SC ruling on 97th Constitution Amendment has clearly laid down roles of Centre and state with respect to coop institutions and all will adhere to them

Centre does not intend to interfere in state cooperatives: Amit Shah

The government has announced that it will come out with a new cooperation policy to strengthen cooperative movement in the country

Cooperative model best suited for development of India: Amit Shah

Shah said taking development to all and making it work in a country with a population of 130 crore is a difficult job

How a Supreme court order could render the new co-op ministry a non-starter

Top court upheld the role of states in governing societies within their jurisdiction; Centre is said to be exploring options to ensure the newly-formed ministry of cooperation isn't crippled

Federalism and cooperatives

SC verdict has brought clarity in regulation of co-operatives

Best of BS Opinion: Illegal surveillance, co-operation ministry & more

Here are the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for Saturday