Cooperatives should revitalize themselves; only then can they create $5trn economy: Amit Shah

Union Minister of Home and Cooperation Amit Shah has said that the government can only provide facilities to the cooperative sector, but the sector needs to strengthen on its own. He said that for this the cooperatives should revitalize themselves with the cooperative spirit, then only could they create a $5trn economy.

Amit Shah was speaking at the National Conference of ARDBs (Agriculture and Rural Development Banks) 2022 organized by the National Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks Federation Ltd (NCARDB). He also advocated for the formation of irrigation cooperatives which the ARDBs may finance. The Conference was attended by more than 700 representatives of ARDBs located all over the country.

Shah said that in the last 25 years, agri-rural financing had reduced from 50 per cent to 25 per cent, and in this respect, the ARDBs needed to play an important role in enhancing the share. He remarked that it was unfortunate that in the last 90 years, the positive effect of agri-rural financing had still not percolated to the grassroots level. He stressed the need to overcome hurdles to ensure more long-term financing for the farmers for overall agricultural development.

The focus of the banks can just not be ‘financing’ but rather meeting the ‘objectives’ of financing to make cooperative banks both multidimensional and multi-purpose in functioning, remarked Shah. He said that though 3 lakh tractors had been financed by ARDBs, the new target should be 8 crore for further growth. Similarly, the benchmark of extending short-term and medium-term finance needs to reach 13 crore farmers in the coming years.

Shah pointed out that NABARD needs to bring in both ‘extensive and expansive’ bank policy in effect for all banking institutions. Bank reforms should be ‘sector-specific’ and not just ‘bank-specific’. Shah announced that in the coming days, a joint meeting of NABARD, NCARDBs’ Federation and cooperative organizations will be summoned to decide on the effective course of long-term financing.             

The recent government initiatives, be it the digitalization of PACS to infuse transparency in their operations, the decision to build a National Cooperative University, or bringing cooperatives on GeM Portal, minimum support price, etc., are historical decisions that will take the cooperative sector to new heights, said Shah. He stated that a cooperative database was being built since we did not have any data on fishery coops, irrigation coops, village PACS, etc. He added that to ensure further expansion and growth, such a comprehensive database will be very significant in locating the dry areas — areas that need the Government/Ministry’s due attention.

Shah urged the representatives of all states and the cooperative sector to come forward and make suggestions on model bylaws related to PACs. Along with digitalization, he guaranteed that such initiatives and policies would empower the PACS to function as advanced multi-purpose and multi-dimensional entities that can perform various activities, including selling agri-inputs, distributing fertilizers and seeds, acting as PDS for cheap food grains, providing cold storage facilities, operating a petrol pump, etc., and even be converted into FPO.

BL Verma, Union Minister of State for Cooperation, stressed that the cooperative sector needed to draw the attention of the youth towards the cooperative movement. He further said that the ARDBs would have to strengthen their income substantially so that they could attain the objective of Sahkar se Samriddhi in cooperatives.

Dileep Sanghani, President, National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI), said on the occasion that the NCUI had recently organized a national conference and sought from all cooperative societies their opinions on the amended draft of the Multi-State Cooperative Act 2002. This will be handed over to the government, which will have to take it seriously so that the democratic system and autonomy of cooperation remain strong.

An award function was held on the occasion to felicitate SCARDBs in Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat and West Bengal for outstanding performance and four oldest ARDBs — (i) Ajmer Sahakari Bhoomi Vikas Bank Ltd (Rajasthan), (ii) Tamil Nadu Cooperative State Agriculture & Rural Development Bank Ltd, (iii) Thrissur Primary Cooperative Agricultural & Rural Development Bank Ltd (Kerala), and (iv) Birbhum Cooperative Agriculture & Rural Development   Bank Ltd (West Bengal) — for their ceaseless service to the rural sector for more than 90 years.