Union Minister Amit Shah has said in several co-operative meetings in the past that the uniform development of co-ops in different regions of the country is not possible without a reliable co-op database.
Working on his idea, the Union Cooperation Ministry began preparing the co-op database in earnest and now the news comes that the process of making a National Cooperative Database and the first phase will be completed by December 2022.
The official twitter handle of the Ministry of Cooperation has claimed that December would be the deadline for the first phase of data collection as data will be collected in two phases and the second phase will likely start from 1 February 2023.
The official twitter handle of the Cooperation Minister wrote, “Ministry of Cooperation conducted a series of workshops/consultations with stakeholders to identify sector-specific parameters for data collection. Sector specific data collection templates have been prepared based on the inputs received in these workshops/consultations”.
In the first phase, basic data on the functional status of cooperatives will be collected. The first phase is likely to be completed by December 2022.
The second phase will start by February 1, 2023 after analyzing the results of Phase I.
In the second phase, detailed data on parameters related to operations of cooperatives, use of ICT, employment, economic activities, revenue and expenditure, assets and liabilities etc. will be collected from the respective cooperatives.
The data for both the stages will be collected through web-based software application/web form.
The objective of developing the National Database on Cooperatives is to provide a single point of access to information on cooperatives of different sectors and develop a process for better understanding of cooperatives.
The proposed database may function as the main planning tool for Central Ministries, State Governments, Cooperative Federations, Cooperators and Sectoral Institutions like NABARD, etc. for the cooperative sector.
It is envisaged to facilitate policy making, improve governance and improve transparency. It may also help the cooperative sector for its better positioning in the business environment
Readers would recall that earlier while addressing a function at Amreli, Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah said, “The Central government will monitor online health of cooperatives through this data base”.