New Delhi, Mar 7 (KNN) Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting today at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg to assess the progress of India’s cooperative sector.
The discussions centered on promoting the “Sahkar Se Samruddhi” (Prosperity through Cooperation) initiative, leveraging technology for sectoral transformation, and enhancing participation of youth and women in cooperatives.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister emphasised the importance of forming partnerships with global cooperative organisations to expand India’s cooperative footprint.
He specifically advocated for promoting organic products through cooperative organisations and suggested focusing on export markets to enhance growth opportunities.
PM Modi proposed developing a soil testing model through cooperatives to improve agricultural practices across the country.
He also highlighted the necessity of integrating UPI with RuPay KCC cards to streamline financial transactions and stressed the importance of fostering healthy competition among cooperative organisations to drive excellence.
The Prime Minister called for transparent documentation of cooperative organisations’ assets and recommended cooperative farming as a more sustainable agricultural model.
He suggested leveraging digital public infrastructure, specifically Agristack, to expand agricultural activities in the cooperative sector and provide farmers with improved access to essential services.
In the education sector, the Prime Minister proposed introducing cooperative-focused courses in schools, colleges, and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). He also suggested promoting successful cooperative organisations as inspirational models for future generations.
PM Modi encouraged young graduates to contribute to the cooperative movement and recommended performance-based ranking of cooperative organisations to simultaneously promote competition and growth.
During the meeting, officials briefed the Prime Minister on the National Cooperation Policy and key achievements of the Ministry of Cooperation over the past three and a half years.
The draft National Cooperation Policy 2025, formulated through extensive consultations, aims to facilitate systematic development of the cooperative sector with a focus on rural economic advancement, particularly benefiting women and youth.
Since its establishment, the Ministry of Cooperation has implemented 60 initiatives across seven key areas to strengthen the cooperative movement.
These include digitisation of cooperative institutions through the National Cooperative Database and Computerisation Projects, and strengthening Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS).
The Government of India has implemented various schemes for cooperative societies through a “whole of government approach,” integrating over 15 schemes from more than 10 ministries at the PACS level.
This integration has resulted in business diversification, additional income generation, increased opportunities, and improved accessibility of government schemes in rural areas.
The Prime Minister was informed that currently one-fifth of India’s population is associated with the cooperative sector, which encompasses over 8.2 lakh cooperative institutions across more than 30 sectors, with membership exceeding 30 crore individuals.
The meeting was attended by Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah, Secretary of the Ministry of Cooperation Dr. Ashish Kumar Bhutani, Principal Secretary to PM Dr. P.K. Mishra, Principal Secretary-2 to PM Shaktikanta Das, Advisor to PM Amit Khare, and other senior officials.
(KNN Bureau)
