Union Minister of State for Cooperation and Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said the cooperative sector has undergone a “fundamental transformation” over the past nearly five years under the leadership of Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah.
Mohol was speaking at the inauguration of the new Head Office of Shri Beereshwar Co-operative Credit Society Limited (Multi-State) at Nandi in Chikodi taluka of Belagavi district, Karnataka. Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, dignitaries, cooperative representatives and citizens attended the event, which also marked the Society’s 36th Foundation Day.
Mohol said Shri Beereshwar Co-operative Credit Society has around 4.60 lakh members, operates 263 branches across the country and has a business of more than Rs 9,000 crore. He congratulated the institution for managing cooperative activities on such a large scale and conveyed his best wishes on behalf of Amit Shah and the Ministry of Cooperation.
Highlighting the growth of cooperation in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, Mohol appreciated the contribution of Annasaheb Jolle and his wife to cooperative sugar factories, cooperative banks and credit societies in Karnataka.
Mohol said more than 8.5 lakh cooperative societies and institutions are functioning across India, with around 32 crore members. He said nearly 20–25 crore families are directly connected with the cooperative sector, making cooperation an important part of the country’s socio-economic system.
He said the creation of an independent Ministry of Cooperation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a new direction to the sector. According to Mohol, more than 160 important decisions have been taken for cooperatives during Amit Shah’s tenure, aimed at strengthening and expanding the movement.
The government has initiated computerisation work worth about Rs 3,000 crore covering nearly 80,000 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), while village-level cooperatives have been linked with 25 types of businesses to diversify their income sources.
Mohol also highlighted the creation of three Multi-State Cooperative Societies, which have attracted nearly 70,000 cooperative institutions as members, providing new opportunities for farmers and cooperatives.
He said the country’s more than 1,500 Urban Cooperative Banks now have support from the umbrella organisation NUCFDC, while ‘Sahkar Sarathi’ has been developed for Rural Cooperative Banks.
Mohol further said around 17 lakh people would need training for the cooperative sector over the next decade. The launch of Tribhuvan Sahkari University, he added, is aimed at creating trained human resources for the sector.
Referring to initiatives including White Revolution 2.0, Sahkar Bima and Bharat Taxi, Mohol said the cooperative movement is continuously expanding. He also underlined NCDC’s role in providing financial and institutional support to cooperatives and expressed confidence that institutions such as Beereshwar Society would continue contributing to the realisation of ‘Sahkar se Samriddhi’.
