India has 8.5 lakh coop societies with 29 crore members, says Union Cooperation Ministry

NEW DELHI, Sep 6 (The CONNECT) - With a view to realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of सहकर से समृद्धि, the government has formed a committee to formulate a draft nation cooperation policy.

The Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah has announced the constitution of the committee under the Chairmanship of former Union Cabinet Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, consists of 47 members from all parts of the country.

The Committee comprises experts of the cooperative sector; representatives of National, State, District and Primary Cooperative Societies; Secretaries (Cooperation) & Registrars of Cooperative Societies of States, Union Territories and Officers from Central Ministries and Departments.

Shah had recently announced that a national Cooperation policy will soon be prepared which will have a holistic approach from PACS upwards.

The existing National Policy on Cooperatives, was formulated in 2002 with the objectives of facilitating all round development of cooperatives and providing necessary support, encouragement and assistance to them, so as to ensure that cooperatives work as autonomous, self-reliant and democratically managed institutions accountable to their members and make a significant contribution to the national economy.

Today, India has around 8.5 lakh co-operative societies with a member base of around 29 crore, spread across the length and breadth of the country. These co-operatives are engaged in varied activities like agro-processing, dairying, fisheries, housing, weaving, credit, marketing, to name a few.

The new National Cooperation Policy document is being formulated with a view to fulfilling the mandate given to the new Ministry of Cooperation, which inter alia, includes realizing the vision of ‘Sahakar se Samriddhi’; strengthening cooperative movement in the country and deepening its reach up to the grassroots; promoting cooperative-based economic development model; creating an appropriate policy, legal and institutional framework to help cooperatives realise their potential. The new policy will go a long way in strengthening the co-operative movement in the country.