The National Campaign on Cooperation among Cooperatives is gaining momentum, with the Gujarat pilot demonstrating how stronger linkages among cooperative institutions can boost deposit mobilisation, digital banking and financial inclusion.
Under the initiative, primary dairy cooperative societies and other cooperative bodies are encouraged to route their financial transactions through cooperative banks. NABARD supported the pilot through its Financial Inclusion Fund (FIF), funding micro-ATMs and financial literacy initiatives, while District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) facilitated deposit accounts and RuPay Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs) for dairy farmers.
The Gujarat pilot has so far deployed 13,086 micro-ATMs, opened 1.2 crore deposit accounts and mobilised Rs 65,662 crore through rural cooperative banks. It also facilitated 8.8 lakh RuPay KCCs and 2.5 crore digital transactions through micro-ATMs.
The campaign has deployed 12,850 Bank Mitras and conducted 6,783 financial literacy programmes.
NABARD has now issued a national SOP and developed a monitoring dashboard, with expansion planned in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
