Ministry of Cooperation 5th Foundation Day Achievements
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 created a digital database of more than 32 crore cooperative members across 8.58 lakh cooperative societies in 30 sectors, providing comprehensive information including audit status, turnover, and ABC grading of all cooperative societies.
Institutional Reforms and Digital Transformation
The Ministry has transformed the cooperative ecosystem into a modern, transparent, technology-driven, and competitive system. A total of 50,000 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) have been declared as e-PACS with complete electronic business operations, supported by a government investment of Rs. 3,000 crore for computerization. The Ministry launched a ranking framework to identify and highlight the top five cooperative societies in each sector and made 50 important amendments to the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002 to enhance transparency and democracy.
Financial Sector Improvements
Cooperative banks have shown remarkable improvement with the total business of District Cooperative Banks growing from Rs. 19.6 lakh crore to over Rs. 25 lakh crore. The gross NPA of these banks was reduced from 12.8% to 6.2%, while net NPA decreased from 5.1% to 0.7% over the five-year period. The net profit of Urban Cooperative Banks has almost doubled, and NCDC's net NPA has become negligible.
Sector Expansion and New Initiatives
Nine national-level cooperative societies have been established across sectors including agriculture, dairy, banking, logistics, and mobility. The Bharat Beej Sahakari Samiti Limited (BBSSL) is projected to become India's largest seed production company within three years, with new units planned in every state to provide high-quality seeds to farmers. The Ministry has integrated organic farming, circular economy, cattle waste management, organic fertilizers, and energy generation with the cooperative model.
Specific Service Expansions
Currently, 55,000 PACS are providing more than 300 services through Common Service Centers (CSCs), including railway ticket booking, birth and death registrations, and applications for Prime Minister's schemes. Additionally, 39,000 PACS have become Kisan Samriddhi Kendras, over 600 PACS operate as Jan Aushadhi Kendras, 75 PACS maintain petrol and diesel retail outlets, and 118 PACS manage water supply schemes.
New Launches and Future Plans
During the event, several projects were launched including the transfer of 135 foodgrain storage godowns, dedication of 85 godowns, foundation stone laying of 47 godowns, bhoomi pujan of Sahakar Van by Amul and NCCF, and bhoomi pujan of BBSSL tissue culture facilities at Barabanki and Jalgaon. New initiatives included NCD 3.0, geo-tag mobile application, NDDB's milk supply review dashboard portal, Cooperative Milk Producers Organization Multi-State Limited, and Gomay Cooperative Society Multi-State Limited. The program also featured the launch of Sahakar CBS (core banking platform) and Sahakar Sahayogi (AI-powered platform) for Urban Cooperative Banks.
Agricultural Impact
The cooperative sector currently handles 20% of agricultural credit, 35% of fertilizer distribution, and 31% of sugar production in India. In the sugarcane sector alone, Prime Minister Modi has waived farmers' income tax worth Rs. 46,000 crore. The Ministry aims to implement circular economy in dairy and sugar sectors, producing alternative manure to DAP that is cheaper and better quality.