Ministry of Cooperation 5th Foundation Day Achievements and Initiatives
Union Home and Cooperation Minister Shri Amit Shah addressed the 5th Foundation Day celebration of the Ministry of Cooperation, highlighting significant achievements over the past five years. The Ministry has impacted 30 crore people associated with the cooperative sector and transformed the ecosystem into a modern, transparent, technology-driven, and competitive framework. A nationwide network of new cooperative institutions has been established integrating agriculture, dairy, banking, logistics, and mobility sectors, with a digital database created for more than 32 crore cooperative members and 8.58 lakh cooperative societies across 30 sectors.
Institutional Reforms and Digital Infrastructure
The Ministry has prepared an integrated database containing audit status, turnover, and ABC grading of all cooperative societies. This year, a ranking framework for cooperative institutions was launched to identify the top five societies in each sector. Fifty important amendments were made to the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002, making the cooperative system more transparent and democratic. The government spent ₹3,000 crore to computerize PACS, with 50,000 PACS now declared as e-PACS conducting entire business electronically, implementing e-audit concepts.
PACS Strengthening and Service Expansion
Fifty-five thousand PACS are providing more than 300 services to villagers through CSCs, including railway ticket booking, birth and death registrations, Prime Minister's scheme applications, and payments. Thirty-nine thousand PACS have become Kisan Samriddhi Kendras, over 600 PACS operate as Jan Aushadhi Kendras, 75 PACS run petrol and diesel retail outlets, and 118 PACS maintain water supply schemes. Model by-laws for PACS have been accepted nationwide, including in Bengal.
Financial Sector Performance
The total business of District Cooperative Banks grew from ₹19.6 lakh crore to over ₹25 lakh crore. Gross NPA of cooperative banks was reduced from 12.8% to 6.2%, while net NPA decreased from 5.1% to 0.7% over five years. Net profit of Urban Cooperative Banks has almost doubled, and NCDC's net NPA has become negligible. Under the 'Cooperation among Cooperatives' experiment in Gujarat, accounts of every cooperative society have been opened in cooperative banks.
National-Level Cooperative Societies and Market Linkages
Nine national-level cooperative societies have been formed, including three newly created societies, connecting cooperation from country to village across nine different sectors. Bharat Beej Sahakari Samiti Limited (BBSSL) is expected to become India's largest seed production company within three years, with new units in every state to provide high-quality seeds to farmers. Three new cooperative societies were formed for exports and organic production, while three more were established for implementing circular economy in the dairy sector.
Sector-Specific Initiatives
Cooperatives handle 20% of agricultural credit, 35% of fertilizer distribution, and 31% of sugar production. The Gomay Cooperative Society Limited promotes complete circular economy in the dairy sector through cattle feed, animal health, artificial insemination, dung management, organic fertilizers, and renewable energy production. White Revolution 2.0 aims to create a strong network of cooperative dairies, with targets to increase milk-producing farmers by 35% in two years. In the sugarcane sector, Prime Minister Modi waived farmers' income tax worth ₹46,000 crore.
New Projects and Launches
During the event, 135 foodgrain storage godowns were transferred, 85 godowns dedicated, and foundation stones laid for 47 godowns. Other initiatives included bhoomi pujan of Sahakar Van by Amul and NCCF, bhoomi pujan of BBSSL tissue culture facilities at Barabanki and Jalgaon, launch of NCD 3.0 and geo-tag mobile application, NDDB's milk supply review dashboard portal, and productivity initiatives for dairy animals. The Cooperative Milk Producers Organization Multi-State Limited and Gomay Cooperative Society Multi-State Limited were inaugurated, while NUCFDC launched Sahakar CBS (centralized core banking platform) and Sahakar Sahayogi (AI-powered platform for Urban Cooperative Banks). An MoU was signed between BBSSL and ICAR to strengthen seed systems.