The year has indeed been fabulous for the Union Cooperation Ministry which worked overtime throughout the year to achieve the vision of “Prosperity through Cooperatives”, an idea of the PM Narendra Modi that actually led to the birth of the Cooperation Ministry itself.
Though each month starting January was filled with stories of breaking new grounds by the Ministry, the winter session in the current month of December saw the fulfilling of a long demand – introduction of the MSCS Amendment Bill, 2022 in the Parliament.
Throughout the year, the Minister Amit Shah and his officials worked on many themes to expand the frontiers of co-op activities. Shah said co-op is restricted to 32 activities but we have to take it 80, almost tripling the number of business activities done by co-ops so far.
Reforms, modernization and expansion of co-op frontiers emerged as the key words in the ministry. While archaic laws are being replaced with laws relevant in current times, modern tech such as AI, Nano, drone, etc were employed to give the co-op a new look.
HIGHLIGHTS
PACS
There are nearly 65,000 viable PACS in the country, with a member base of around 13 crores. A project for Computerization of 63,000 functional PACS in three years with a total financial outlay of Rs 2,516 Crore was approved by the govt.
Additionally, model bye laws of PACS have been prepared by the Ministry after consultation with all the States. Shah vowed to make PACS vibrant by converting them into multipurpose coo-ops. Their number will be increased from 65 thousand to 3 lakh in five years.
Co-op Database
The Ministry has initiated a process for creating a National Cooperative database. The Ministry has started consultations with stakeholders on finalization of various parameters, procedures and processes for inclusion in the database. The proposed National Database will act as the main planning tool for Central Ministries, State Governments, Cooperative Federations, Co-operators and sectoral institutions like NABARD, etc. for the cooperative sector.
Multistate Co-op Amendment Act 2022
A bill called MSCS Amendment Bill, 2022 was introduced in the Parliament. It aims to bring transparency and fix accountability in the Multi-State Co-operative Societies. As of now it has been sent to the Standing Committee.
National Co-op Policy
The Ministry formed a Panel headed by Ex Union Minister Suresh Prabhu to suggest a draft of New National Co-op Policy, which can cater to the whole of India as well as several sub sectors of the cooperative sector. The Panel has a long list of members which are drawn from almost all the states of the country. The Panel is currently brainstorming on the issues.
Onboarding of co-ops on GeM
Unprecedented enthusiasm amidst co-ops in joining GeM showed as big co-op brands like Amul, IFFCO, Kribhco and Nafed joined the bandwagon without losing time. 45 of the 54 multistate cooperatives have joined GeM. Among 589 state co-op bodies, 289 have registered themselves.
Emphasis on natural farming, organic products
Organic produce will give health benefits to our country and people around the world and farmers will also get a good rate of produce.
Co-op University
Shah informed that the said University will seek help from NCUI and would integrate all the different co-op education and training institutes of the country. He stressed the professional management of co-ops for their bright future.
Seeking states’ support in achieving co-op vision
The Ministry worked hard to seek states’ support as the grand vision of cooperatives cannot succeed without the support of state governments. Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah made an impassioned appeal to state co-op ministers at the inaugural session of a two-day National Conference in New Delhi on Thursday to follow a national roadmap for the development of cooperatives.
Alternate tax on co-ops reduced
Earlier more tax was being collected from the cooperative societies than the companies, but in the last budget Prime Minister Narendra Modi has brought the cooperatives at par with the companies by reducing the surcharge of the cooperative society from 12% to 7% by and reducing the alternative tax from 18% to 15%.
Housing loan limit of UCBs increased
Shri Shah said that the housing loan limit of Urban Cooperative Bank has been increased by 3 times by RBI, loan limit on commercial property has also been increased and door step banking has also been allowed.
Organic Certification of co-op products
Led by Amul, a mutlti state co-op is shaping up for organic certification of co-op products
Co-op Export House
Five top co-ops have come together to set up an Export House exclusively for co-op products. Iffco, Amul, Kribhco and Nafed are part of this project
There are many other initiatives taken by the Ministry, one of which is exhorting co-ops to be more media savvy and communicating their messages to the last man.
