The Government has intensified efforts to expand awareness and outreach of cooperative initiatives among small and marginal farmers through the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), Union Minister for Cooperation Amit Shah informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
In a written reply, Shah said the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), a statutory body under the Ministry of Cooperation, is implementing a comprehensive extension programme aimed at strengthening the reach of cooperative schemes in rural areas, with special focus on primary cooperatives such as PACS and Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs).
As part of the outreach strategy, NCDC regularly publishes advertisements in agriculture and cooperative-focused magazines such as Kriti Kalp, Gau Krishi and publications of National Federation of Urban Cooperative Banks and Credit Societies (NAFCUB), besides mainstream magazines like India Today and Outlook. The corporation also promotes its schemes through newspaper advertisements and web promotions on farmer-centric portals.
Shah said NCDC maintains an active presence on social media platforms including X, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, where it shares information on schemes, success stories, and cooperative initiatives through its channel “Sahakar Cooptube NCDC India”.
The corporation also sponsors and participates in rural and cooperative events, exhibitions and workshops such as those organised by Sahakar Bharati, Agri Vision, Agriculture Science Congress, Food & Beverage Expo and CoCo Fest, among others, to strengthen engagement with grassroots cooperatives.
For capacity building, the Laxmanrao Inamdar National Academy for Cooperative Research and Development (LINAC), the training institute under NCDC, conducts training programmes for primary cooperatives along with 19 Regional Training Centres across the country.
According to the minister, 245 training programmes were conducted in 2022-23 with 18,334 participants. In 2023-24, 98 programmes trained 3,941 participants, while in 2024-25 the number rose sharply to 666 programmes covering 1,41,210 participants.
Shah also informed the House that NCDC’s expenditure on publicity and promotional activities stood at Rs 79.70 lakh in 2022-23 and Rs 28.64 lakh in 2023-24. The spending increased to Rs 1.11 crore in 2024-25 as part of enhanced outreach initiatives aimed at strengthening the cooperative ecosystem and improving awareness of government schemes among rural stakeholders.
