Home and cooperation minister Amit Shah responded to a question in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday by stating that a national level committee was established on September 2 under the leadership of former minister Suresh Prabhu to develop the new National Cooperation Policy. The minister stated that the committee was made up of cooperative industry experts, representatives from national, state, district, and primary level cooperative societies, secretaries (cooperation), and registrars of cooperative societies from States/UTs and officers from central ministries/departments to develop the policy.
“The creation of the new National Cooperation Policy will assist in implementing the goal of ‘Sahakar se Samriddhi,’ boosting the cooperative-based economic development model, expanding the cooperative movement in the nation, and deepening its reach up to the grassroots,” Shah continued.
He stated that there had been stakeholder consultations on the subject and that the public as well as central ministries and departments, states and UTs, national cooperative federations, and institutions had been asked for their ideas on how to formulate the new policy. The minister also said that a committee at the national level will examine the gathered comments, ideas for new policies, and proposals in order to create a draught of the new policy. In order to strengthen India’s cooperative architecture and align it with the nation’s economic and social needs, the Centre has taken a number of actions since the creation of the Ministry of Cooperation, including, among other things, computerising PACS, developing model byelaws for PACS, creating a national cooperative database, creating a national cooperative policy, and amending the MSCS Act, 2002.
Under the ministry, further initiatives included lowering the tax rate for new cooperatives, reducing the levy on cooperative societies, providing relief under Section 269ST of the IT Act, and establishing member lending institutions under the credit guarantee fund trust.
