PM Modi: Need to collaborate with global co-ops for expanding sector in India

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday emphasised on the need for partnerships with global cooperative organisations to expand the Indian cooperative sector.

He held a review of the newly set up cooperation ministry with Union home and cooperation minister Amit Shah and senior officials of the Prime Minister's Office where he was briefed about the National Cooperation Policy and key achievements of the cooperation ministry over the past three and a half years.

"The objective of policy is to facilitate the systematic and holistic development of the cooperative sector, with a focus on accelerating rural economic development, while prioritizing women and youth," said a statement issued by the ministry.


PM Modi proposed introducing cooperative courses in schools, colleges and Indian Institutes of Management, as well as promoting successful cooperative organisations to inspire future generations. He added that young graduates should be encouraged to contribute, and cooperative organisations should be ranked based on their performance, so as to promote competition and growth simultaneously.

He also suggested focusing on export markets and developing a soil testing model through cooperatives to improve agricultural practices.

The PM highlighted the importance of integrating Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with RuPay KCC cards to facilitate financial transactions and emphasised the need for healthy competition among cooperative organisations.

He also stressed on the importance of documenting the assets of cooperative organisations to ensure transparency and recommended the use of digital public infrastructure (Agristack) to expand agriculture and related activities in the cooperative sector, with an aim to provide farmers with better access to services, according to the statement.

Since its inception, the ministry has undertaken 60 initiatives across seven key areas to promote and strengthen the cooperative movement. These initiatives include the digitisation of cooperative institutions through the National Cooperative Database and Computerization Projects, as well as the strengthening of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS).

Additionally, the ministry has focused on enhancing the efficiency and sustainability of cooperative sugar mills. It has implemented various schemes for cooperative societies through a "whole of government approach", integrating over 15 schemes from more than 10 ministries at the PACS level.