Amit Shah announces constitution of committee for drafting National Cooperation policy document

New Delhi, September 6, 2022

Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah today announced the constitution of a national-level committee for the drafting of the National Cooperation Policy document.

The committee under the chairmanship of former Union Minister Suresh Prabhu consists of 47 members from all parts of the country. It includes cooperative sector experts; representatives of National, State, District and Primary Cooperative Societies; Secretaries (Cooperation) & Registrars of Cooperative Societies of States and UTs and officers from Central Ministries and Departments.

The existing National Policy on Cooperatives was formulated in 2002 with the objectives of facilitating all-round development and providing necessary support, encouragement and assistance to them. It was to ensure that cooperatives work as autonomous, self-reliant and democratically managed institutions accountable to their members and make a significant contribution to the national economy.

At present, India has around 8.5 lakh cooperative societies with a member base of around 29 crores, spread across the length and breadth of the country. These cooperatives are engaged in varied activities like agro-processing, dairying, fisheries, housing, weaving, credit and marketing, to name a few.

The new National Cooperation Policy document is being formulated to fulfil the mandate given to the new Ministry of Cooperation, which inter alia, includes realizing the Prime Minister’s vision of "Sahakar Se Samriddhi"; strengthening the cooperative movement in the country and deepening its reach up to the grassroots; promoting cooperative-based economic development model; creating an appropriate policy, legal and institutional framework to help cooperatives realise their potential, an official press release said.

The new policy will go a long way in strengthening the co-operative movement in the country, it added.

NNN