Play significant role in government schemes: Agriculture Minister to cooperatives

NEW DELHI: Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh today asked the cooperatives to play a significant role in implementation of initiatives taken by government for welfare of the people.

Inaugurating a ' krishi mela' at Amargol in Karnataka, Singh said the cooperative movement in India is one of the largest in the world.

"With a network of about 6.10 lakh cooperative societies and a membership of about 249.20 million, the cooperative movement in India has emerged as one of the largest in the world," an official statement quoted Singh as saying.

He further said, agricultural credit advanced through cooperatives has increased from a meagre Rs 214.35 crore in 1960-61 to Rs 8,6185 crore in 2011-12 with about 17 per cent share in total institutional agricultural credit.

The cooperative sector provides direct and self-employment to about 17.8 million people in the country and is playing a significant role in improving the socio-economic conditions of the weaker section of the society, he added.

Cooperatives can play a significant role in the implementation of initiatives taken by the government for the welfare of the people. They can do this by providing better services to members associated with them, Singh said.

He also said that cooperatives are business enterprises owned and controlled by the members that they serve, decisions made in cooperatives are balanced by the pursuit of profit and the needs.