The Union Ministry of Cooperation has constituted a National Level Committee for drafting the new National Cooperative Policy Document, which will be chaired by Former Union Cabinet Minister Suresh Prabhu.
The Committee has been asked to submit the final draft within 3 months from the date of its first meeting and it is being said that the first meeting will be held before 15 September 2022. The office order in this regard was released on 2nd September 2022, of which a copy is with Indian Cooperative.
The 47-member committee has representatives from National Apex Cooperative Institutions, PACCs, Institute of Rural Management (IRMA), State Level Marketing Cooperatives, state RoCs, many academicians such as Dr. Sukhpal Singh, Professor, IIM Ahmedabad and others.
Some of the top co-operators in the Committee include NCUI President and IFFCO Chairman Dileep Sanghani, RBI Board member Satish Marathe, Nafcub President Jyotindra Mehta, Nafcub’s D Krishan, GCMMF Managing Director RS Sodhi, Kribhco MD Rajan Choudhary, NAFSCOB President Ravindra Rao, Prakash Naiknavare, MD, National Federation of Co-operative Sugar Factories, Nafed Ex MD Sanjeev Chadha, among others.
Sadly, a few important co-operative sectors remained excluded from the list and these included cooperatives active in the field of Tribal, Labour, Fisheries, Housing etc. Most importantly, the committee has no women member on its roll.
The Ministry of Cooperation will be represented by an Additional Secretary (Cooperation). The Committee shall be responsible for drafting the new National Cooperation Policy Document in line with the co-operative principles to provide an enabling framework to realise the vision of ‘Sahakar se Samriddhi’, strengthen the cooperative movement in the country and promote a cooperative-based economic development model”, it reads.
The order further says, “VAMNICOM, Pune shall render necessary secretarial assistance, logistical and technical support to the Committee.
Commenting on this, cooperators said, “The new Cooperative Policy should ensure that there is no conflict due to the dual controls and should be in tune with tremendous developments in technology, business structures, social changes and others”.
It is to be noted that the existing National Policy on Cooperatives was brought in March 2002 by the then NDA government.
Committee for drafting the New National Cooperation Policy Document:
List of Members:
- Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Former Union Cabinet Minister – Chairman
- Shri Umakant Dash, Director, Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA)
- Dr.H.KMishra,Professor,InstituteofRuralManagementAnand(IRMA)
- Dr. Sukhpal Singh, Professor, IIM Ahmedabad
- Shri Satish Marathe, Director, RBI Central Board
- Dr. Y. Dongre, Vice Chancellor, Chanakya University, Karnataka
- Shri D. Krishna, Ex. CEO, National Federation of Urban Cooperative Banks and Credit Societies (NAFCUB)
- Dr. C. Pichai, Professor and Chief, Cooperative Department, Gandhigram Rural Institute, Tamil Nadu
- Shri Sanjeev Kumar Chadda, Ex. MD, NAFED
- Shri Dileep Sanghani, President, NCUI & Chairman, IFFCO
- Shri Jyotindra Mehta, Chairman, NAFCUB
- Shri Manoj Kumar Semwal, MD, National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation (NCCF)
- Shri K. K. Ravindran, MD, National Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks’ Federation Ltd. (NAFCARD)
- Shri Rajan Chowdhry, MD, KRIBHCO
- Shri Konduru Ravinder Rao, Chairman, National Federation of State Co-operative Banks Ltd. (NAFSCOB)
- Shri Prakash Naiknavare, MD, National Federation of Co-operative Sugar Factories Ltd (NFCSF)
- Shri R.S Sodhi, MD, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF)
- Chairman, Tamil Nadu Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society (COOPTEX), Tamil Nadu
- Chairman, Kerala Rubber and Agricultural Marketing and Processing Co-operative Society Ltd., Kerala
- Chairman, MARKFED, Punjab
- Chairman, Ahmedabad District Co-operative Bank Limited, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
- Chairman, Bhutti Weavers Co-operative Society Ltd., Himachal Pradesh
- Chairman, Horticultural Producers Cooperative Marketing and Processing Society (HOPCOMS), Karnataka
- Chairman, Karimnagar District Co-operative Central Bank, Telangana
- Chairman, Dehradun Milk Producers Cooperative Union Limited, Uttarakhand
- Chairman, Mullana Primary Agriculture Cooperative Society Ltd., Ambala, Haryana
- Chairman, Mulkanoor Cooperative Rural Credit and Marketing Society Ltd.,Telangana
- Chairman, T.Narasapur Primary Co-operative Society, Andhra Pradesh
- Chairman, Deendayal Multipurpose Cooperative Society, Goa
- Chairman, Karam Awang Leikai Handloom and Handicraft Cooperative Society, West Imphal, Manipur
- Chairman, The Sandhole Agri Service Cooperative Society Ltd., Himachal Pradesh
- Chairman, Thimiri Service Co-operative Bank Ltd., Kerala
- Principal Secretary, Cooperation, Government of Uttar Pradesh
- Additional Chief Secretary, Cooperation, Government of Maharashtra
- Secretary, Cooperation, Government of Tamil Nadu
- Principal Secretary, Cooperation, Government of Karnataka
- Additional Chief Secretary, Cooperation, Government of Assam
- Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Government of Bihar
- Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Government of Odisha
- Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Government of Telangana
- Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Government of Kerala
- Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Government of West Bengal
- Joint Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance
- Joint Secretary (Credit), Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare
- Joint Secretary (Sugar), Department of Food and Pubic Distribution, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution
- Joint Secretary, Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying
- Joint Secretary, Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development