A national cooperation policy is in the works and will be unveiled soon, Union home and cooperation minister Amit Shah said on Monday, chairing a meeting with counterparts from states, according to an official statement.
The Centre-states meeting took stock of policies to enable growth and enhance business activities in the sector and Shah stressed a national target to have at least one cooperative society in every village, the statement said.
Cooperatives are collective enterprises owned jointly by their members, who share profits and losses equally. India’s cooperative sector, over a century old, provides livelihood to millions in sectors such as dairy, fisheries, finance, housing and agriculture. Firms such as Amul, the largest dairy producer, run on a cooperative model.
Shah said the Centre had changed laws to help cooperatives expand and adapt, as well as to cut nepotism. States were urged to fully utilise the national cooperative database to set up new enterprises and strengthen existing ones, the statement said. The country has embarked on a mission to digitise nearly 65,000 primary agricultural cooperative societies, the building blocks of the sector.
“Two things are extremely important, the growth of gross domestic product and gross state domestic product as well as the creation of jobs for all 140 crore people. Cooperation is the only option for generating employment for every individual in the country, which is why a separate ministry for cooperation was created,” the statement quoted Shah as saying.
{{/usCountry}}“Two things are extremely important, the growth of gross domestic product and gross state domestic product as well as the creation of jobs for all 140 crore people. Cooperation is the only option for generating employment for every individual in the country, which is why a separate ministry for cooperation was created,” the statement quoted Shah as saying.
{{/usCountry}}The Centre is aiming at an expansion of the sector to spur job creation and it has called upon states to forge a common policy approach. Cooperatives fall under the jurisdiction of states. The Centre, however, has a say in multi-state cooperatives.
Shah urged cooperation ministers from states to work closely with their agriculture counterparts to promote natural farming through cooperatives to safeguard public health and the environment, the release said.
States should also set up cooperative training institutions affiliated to the Tribhuvan Sahkari University, a national institution set up through an Act passed by Parliament earlier this year.