Union Minister for Home and Cooperation, Amit Shah addresses National Conference of State Cooperation Ministers in New Delhi today
Prime Minister, Narendra Modi wants to bring
a positive change in the lives of crores of poor by making the cooperative
sector a strong pillar of the economy
Ministry of Cooperation is trying to take the number of PACS to three lakhs in
five years
Development of any sector is not possible without a database, the Ministry of
Cooperation is creating a national database of the cooperative sector
In the next 2 months, government will form a multi-state cooperative of seed
culture and marketing and certification of organic products, which will
directly benefit farmers involved in organic farming
Government of India will be setting up a multistate export house which will
export Khadi products, handicrafts and agriculture products to the world market
Several new dimensions are to be added to PACS through model bylaws which will
bring transparency, accountability and dynamism in cooperatives
All States will have to work together in the spirit of Team India to strengthen
the cooperative sector and as trustees, the cooperative sector will have to be
strengthened in their respective States.
Cooperatives should make large contribution to the aim of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi in making the country's economy a US $ 5 trillion economy and in
the next 100 years, the cooperative sector must definitely be a part of the
Indian economy
Equal development of cooperative sector will be ensured by considering every
State equally in the new Cooperative Policy
It is time for the cooperative sector to once again earn everyone’s trust by
empowering itself according to the needs of the times
Along with mass production, production by the masses is also very important for
the development of our economy and this can be possible only through the
cooperative model
The focus of the co-operative policy of government led by Narendra Modi is -
free registration, computerization, democratic elections, active membership,
professionalism in governance and leadership, professionalism, transparency, responsibility
and accountability
If there is special participation of youth and women in the cooperative sector,
then the sector will go a long way
The government led by Narendra Modi is also formulating a policy idea that
along with short term finance PACS should also be involved in medium and long
term financing
The Union
Minister for Home and Cooperation, Amit Shah addressed the two-day National
Conference of State Cooperation Ministers in New Delhi today. Several
dignitaries including the Minister of State for Cooperation, Shri B.L Verma and
Cooperation Ministers of 21 States and Lt. Governors of 2 Union Territories
were present in the conference.
In his address, the Union Cooperation Minister said this
two-day conference will prove to be a step in the days ahead to take
cooperatives to a new level. He said the cooperative movement in India is
about a 125 years old, but if we do not make timely changes in any activity, it
becomes out of date and now time has come for the cooperative sector to
strengthen itself according to the needs of the times and win everyone's trust
once again. Shah said the Ministry of Cooperation was created by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on 6th July 2021 and in just one year, the Ministry has organized
many meetings and conferences in all the related areas of cooperatives.
Cooperation is mainly a State subject and our Constitution has left all
activities of cooperatives to the States, but in a vast country like India, the
entire cooperative movement should follow the same path, and for this all
States have to have common views.
Amit Shah said it is most important to strengthen the
PACS to strengthen cooperatives and the government is taking many steps for
this. He told the cooperative ministers of the States that everyone together
has to inculcate the spirit of Team India in the cooperative sector and that
too without politics, as trustees will have to move forward to strengthen and
develop the cooperative sector in their respective States. If we look at the
history of coooeratives in the last 150 years, it is seen that cooperatives
have made a proud contribution to India’s economy and it is a goal that in the
next 100 years, Cooperatives must be a part of the Indian economy and make a
big contribution in fulfilling the dream the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s
dream of a US $ 5 trillion economy
The first Minister of Cooperation of the country said
that at present there are about 8.5 lakh cooperative units in different parts
of the country. Out of these, Cooperatives have contributed a lot in all areas
related to agriculture finance distribution and agriculture. There are 1.5 lakh
dairy and housing societies, 97,000 PACS and 46,000 honey cooperative
societies, 26,000 consumer societies, many fisheries cooperatives and many
cooperative sugar mills. 51 percent villages and 94 percent farmers are associated
with cooperatives in some form or the other. The contribution of cooperatives
in the country's economy is huge. The cooperative sector gives 20% of the total
agricultural credit of the country, 35% of the fertilizer distribution is done
by the cooperative sector, 25% of fertilizer production, 31% of sugar
production, more than 10% of milk production is done through cooperatives, more
than 13% procurement of wheat and more than 20% of the procurement of
paddy is done by the cooperative sector and more than 21% of the fishermen's
business is done by cooperative societies.
Amit Shah said in the field of cooperatives, we have to
adopt uniformity in policy. The cooperative department of every State should
follow the same path and with the same subject. If we look at the cooperative
sector, we see three parts in the country. First, the developed States which
are mostly in the West and South. Second, the developing States that are in the
Central parr and in the North. Third, the underdeveloped States which are in
the East and the North East. He said it should be our goal that the Cooperative
Movement should be run equally in every State. In States where activities are
slow or closed, we should try to accelerate them and for this we need a new
Cooperative Policy. Such a Cooperative Policy that considers every State and
Union Territory equally and works towards ensuring all-round development of the
cooperative sector as well as identifying new areas.
Shah said
Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has been working to raise the standard of living
of 70 crore poor persons. For these crores of people, PM Modi has provided
housing, drinking water, gas cylinders, free food grains for two years, all
health facilities up to Rs. 5 lakh and electricity and now the aspirations of
these people have been awakened and now these crores of people want to
contribute in the development of the country. But these people have very little
capital and if they want to contribute to the development of the country, then
only cooperatives can be the medium. Co-operatives is the only sector in which
a lot of people can come together and contribute hugely even with minimal
capital and Amul in Gujarat is a classic example of this. To consider this type
of all-round development, a committee has been constituted to prepare a
cooperative policy in which all States are represented and former Union
Minister Shri Suresh Prabhu, who has done good work in the cooperative sector,
is has been appointed the Chairman of this Committee.
The Union Minister for Home and Cooperation said mass
production is necessary for the development of the economy, but in our vast
country with a population of 130 crore, ‘Production by Masses’ is also very
important and its concept does not come from anywhere else but from
cooperatives. For this, our cooperative policy will take the country far ahead.
We have set the focus of this policy – free registration, computerisation,
democratic elections, ensuring active membership, professionalism in governance
and leadership, professionalism and transparency, and accountability. Along
with this, we want to incorporate effective human resource policy, which should
have transparency in recruitment, empowerment of infrastructure, use of
technology and policy-rules and guidelines for this. If there is a special
participation of youth and women in the cooperative sector, then cooperatives
will go a long way. We also have to engage with the outside business world and
achieve all standards of competition because now we cannot escape competition.
Cooperatives now have to make it a habit to live with competition, only then
will cooperatives be able to move forward. Along with this, we also want to
carve out some new dimensions, such as insurance, health, tourism, processing,
storage and services. These are areas in which a lot can be done through
cooperatives.
Amit Shah said PACS will have to be made multipurpose,
which is the need of the day. Many new dimensions that we want to add through
these model bylaws also have the provision of transparency, accountability and
mobility. By doing this we will be successful in strengthening the core unit of
the cooperative sector and give a new and long and strong life to the
cooperative sector. At present about 65,000 PACS are under implementation and
we have decided that we will make 3 lakh new PACS in 5 years. Thus, we have set
a target of registering around 2,25,000 PACS. These packs will also be of
dairy, will also be FPO, will also distribute water, will also distribute gas,
will also make cow dung gas, will also engage in storage work. He said
Panchayats which do not have PACS have been identified. If PACS are to be made
multi-purpose, then we have to give a fresh look at the accounting system. For
this, Prime Minister Modi has decided to computerize from PACS to APACS, for
smooth seamless transactions.
We will
computerize 65,000 PACS in the first phase and a good software is also being
developed by the Cooperation Ministry of the Government of India in which all
works will be included. After this, PACS, District Cooperative Banks, State
Cooperative Banks and NABARD, all four will run on the same software and same
type of accounting system, which will also facilitate online audit. Many of our
problems will be solved by accepting the bylaws of PACS, computerization
of PACS and adoption of new software. This software will be available in all
languages of the country so that every State will be able to conduct business
for their PACS in their native language. In this way an ambitious plan has been
brought by the Cooperation Ministry, but it cannot be possible without the
active cooperation of all.
The Union Cooperation Minister said by liquidating
defunct PACS as soon as possible, new PACS should be formed because as
long as the old PACS are in existence, new PACS will not be able to be formed.
Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also taking a decision
at the policy level that till now PACS are engaged only in
disbursing short term finance, but now PACS should also be able to disburse
medium and long term finance as well, even though they have to do so through
the Kheti Bank. A proposal is being mooted on this to authorize PACS. He said
the idea is to change the entire face of NAFED to promote cooperative
marketing. By proactively cooperating with the State Marketing Federation,
NAFED will actively integrate the PACS with marketing and the entire
marketing profit will eventually reach the PACS through the NAFED State and
District Federation.
For so many
changes, trained manpower, youth who know cooperative finance, youth who know
computer, youth who imbibe the concept of cooperatives are needed. If trained
man power is needed then today there is not even a single cooperative
university and now the government has decided that a cooperative
university will be formed and under the aegis of the state cooperative union,
we will also open one affiliated college in every State so that different types
of cooperatives will be able to train man power. We will also take this
cooperative university to the districts, which will increase the chances of
finding trained man power. Shri Shah said today if cooperatives are to be
developed, then we do not have data. For this, the Government of India is also
going to create a permanent database and this data bank will be updated. We
want to give access to this database to the District and its Union and District
Cooperative Banks.
The Union Home & Cooperation Minister said that in
seed production also we are going to form a multi State cooperative - Seed
Production Cooperative which will also do R&D and will also promote and
preserve seed breeds and will also create new breeds. For this, we are going to
form a multi-state cooperative by merging four or five big cooperatives at the
national level to enhance the quality of seeds and preserve and promote our old
seeds. Today the Prime Minister has called upon the farmers to promote organic
farming. Natural farming has become the need of the hour today and natural
farming can also become a great tool in increasing the income of the farmer.
There is a demand for organic products all over the world, but we do not have a
system of certification. For its marketing and export, under the leadership of
Amul, we are going to form a cooperative to certify and market organic
products, which will be a multi-state cooperative, in which all States will be
connected. Within the next two months, we will make a multi-state cooperative
of seed promotion and marketing and certification of organic products, which
will be of great benefit to farmers engaged in organic farming after
States join. Along with this, Amul, IFFCO, NAFED, NCDC and KRIBHCO are going to
form a multistate export house which will work to export Khadi products,
handicrafts and agriculture products to the worldwide market. To export the
product of the smallest cooperative unit, it will become a multi-state
cooperative export house and this itself will take it further.
Amit Shah said along with computerization of PACS, we are
going to bring a big change in the Multi State Cooperative law. We are also
bringing in Model By-laws, National Cooperative University, National
Cooperative Data Bank, an Export House, a Multi State Cooperative Society to
sell organic agriculture products and for seed production also we are making a
cooperative. He said the Ministry of Cooperation has done a lot of work in the
last one year to strengthen the cooperatives. Earlier, sugar mills used to
attract additional Income Tax which was a great injustice and was in existence
for 50 years. By abolishing additional Income Tax within one month of the
formation of the Ministry of Cooperation, we have done the work of giving equal
status to the cooperative sector. The surcharge on co-operative societies has
been reduced from 12% to 7%. Cooperatives across the country have benefited
from this, we have worked to bring down the MAT rate from 18.5% to 15% at the
corporate level. We have recognized cooperatives to buy and sell from GeM. We
have also succeeded in getting changes from RBI, by taking a lot of positive
decisions for rural and urban co-operative commercial banks which will increase
their business and a listing of all pending questions of urban co-operative
banks and banking sector with RBI is also in progress.
The Union Cooperation Minister said now the cooperative
movement cannot be treated as a second class citizen. PM Modi has given this
confidence to the entire cooperative sector, but we also have to bring
transparency, be accountable, increase efficiency, accept technology, accept
professionalism and work hard to take cooperatives to new areas. He said that
cooperative is the territory of the States and unless State units prepare
themselves for this change, it can never happen. States should adopt these
changes and contribute to the road map, only then will cooperatives get
strengthened. The Government if India has no objective other than the welfare
of crores of poor persons, by making the cooperative sector a strong pillar of
the economy in the next 100 years.