Odisha has 8,667 registered cooperative societies, of which 8,063 are functional, Cooperation Minister Amit Shah informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, citing the National Cooperative Database (NCD).
Shah said the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) provides financial assistance to cooperatives in Odisha, including women and tribal cooperatives. Women’s cooperatives can avail support under schemes such as Swayam Shakti Sahakar Yojana, Nandini Sahakar and Yuva Sahakar.
The Government’s PACS computerisation project, launched in 2022, has also been expanded from an initial 63,000 PACS to 79,630 PACS, with the financial outlay raised from Rs 2,516 crore to Rs 2,925.39 crore.
Highlighting measures to strengthen rural cooperative banking, Shah said the Government has removed the monetary ceiling on gold loans for cooperative banks, permitted One-Time Settlement of outstanding loans and raised the individual housing loan limit for Rural Cooperative Banks to Rs 75 lakh.
The Government has also enabled eligible StCBs and DCCBs to open new branches through the automatic route and brought Rural Cooperative Banks under the RBI Integrated Ombudsman Scheme.
