Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah said in a written that the Cooperative sector plays a pivotal role in strengthening the rural economy.
The agri cooperative lender NCDC has disbursed financial assistance of more than Rs 34,000 crore in the 2021-22 FY across the country including rural areas, said Shah in his reply.
The amount of assistance has been increased from Rs 24,733 crore as of 31st March 2021 to Rs 34,221 crore in the 2021-22 FY. The said figures were shared by Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah while giving a reply to the question raised by Geeta alias Chandraprabha in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
“Financial assistance under various schemes is provided to the Cooperative sector through Central & State Governments, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) and other Institutions”, Shah informed.
The Union Cooperation Minister further said that the Cooperative sector plays a pivotal role in strengthening the rural economy. The cooperative societies engaged, particularly, in the rural sector such as agriculture, fishery, agro-processing, dairy are providing credit, agricultural inputs and marketing for milk, fish, vegetable, fruits, flower, medicinal plants, forest products, honey & resham etc.
While direct employment is provided by the concerned Cooperative Societies, the strengthening of the entire ecosystem of the Cooperative sector generates huge opportunities of indirect employment in the rural sector.
Keeping this in mind, the Government has taken many initiatives that include preparation of a new National Cooperation Policy, consolidating a National Cooperative Database, preparing Sahakar se Samriddhi scheme, computerising the existing Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACS) and initiating stakeholder consultation for Model bye laws for Multipurpose and Multiservice PACS making such societies multi dimensional and more economically viable units, Shah’s answer concluded.