Meeting with ministries and states next week to discuss new cooperative policy; discussions with cooperative organizations in next phase

The newly formed Ministry of Cooperation is bringing a new cooperative policy. It will hold a meeting with all the stakeholders for this purpose. The meeting will be held in two phases. The policy will be finalized on the basis of the suggestions that come up in these meetings. A top source in the central government shared this information with Rural Voice. He said that the main aim of the meeting is to see how to promote the cooperative sector.

The abovementioned source said that the initial meeting would be held next week. Officials from various ministries and state representatives will be called to the meeting, which is expected to be held all day. Besides talks on inter-ministerial level issues with regard to the cooperative sector and on problems related to the cooperative sector at the central, state and inter-state levels, the meeting will discuss the policy provisions necessary to strengthen cooperation as an effective economic activity and as a source of employment creation.

In the second phase, meetings will be held with all the institutions that have a role to play in the cooperative sector, including allied institutions Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and NABARD. This role may be one of a regulator or of a promoter. Besides, meetings will be held with institutions and federations related to the cooperative sector. These will include the National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI), IFFCO, Amul, Nafed, Kribhco and institutions working in various sectors across the country. Meetings will be held with officials from cooperative organizations, RBI etc.

Soon after it was formed by the government, the new Ministry of Cooperation has been working on bringing about a new policy for the cooperative sector and necessary steps are being taken in this regard. The primary objective of the formation of the new ministry is only to strengthen cooperation as an important economic alternative with the mantra of “Sahakar se Samriddhi” (Prosperity Through Cooperation) at its core. In the Budget for the current year, changes have been made in the direct tax provisions related to the cooperative sector to bring them on par with the provisions applicable to the corporate sector. Besides, while the Ministry is making the current training institutes more effective for the training of professionals associated with the cooperative sector, it is also coordinating with other management institutes.

It is hoped that subsequent to these meetings, the task of preparing a new policy for the cooperative sector will enter its last phase.

In fact, there are two major segments of the economy — the public sector and the private sector. The third significant sector is that of the cooperatives. The government believes that the cooperative sector is more inclusive and more people can participate in development through this sector.

The Ministry of Cooperation, which was formed in July 2021, is currently in the process of drafting a new national cooperative policy. It has also prepared the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022, in order to amend the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002.