The issue of co-operative contributions to India’s GDP has been debated for a long time but without any concrete outcomes. The apex body of co-ops in the country NCUI has decided to take the bull by the horns and try to solve it once for all by roping in Ernst & Young for the job.
Despite a vague understanding of the fact that co-ops form an important part of the national economy in several matters (most of all in rural credit flow), it is often asked by industry experts what is the percentage of its contribution to the GDP.
“To know the truth, we have roped in E&Y to quantify the same”, revealed NCUI Chief Executive Sudhir Mahajan. “The job has already been assigned and the first report is scheduled to come by this December’, added Mahajan.
There are areas in which co-operatives are directly involved such as dairy, banking or fertilizer and everyone knows their role. But there are several other areas where co-operatives are subsumed under different ministries and categories, Mahajan added, giving the examples of housing, tribal co-ops or weavers’ co-ops.
It would be the job of E&Y to identify different verticals and assess their contributions to the economy, underlined the CE. Ernst & Young Global Limited, commonly known as Ernst & Young or simply EY, is a multinational professional services network with headquarters in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world.
Talking about the selection of E & Y for the assignment, Mahajan said that the NCUI had approached all the Big Four including Deloitte and KPMG for the job but it was only EY that seemed to answer to our needs.
It is common knowledge that during interactions with govt agencies– be it ministry or Niti Aayog, the issue crops up every now and then. Also, whenever the co-op sector demands concessions for itself from the government, it is asked to prove its worth. The study will help fix its place in the govt scheme of things, felt several co-operators.
It bears recall that a few years ago NCUI commissioned a project which threw up the total number of co-ops in the country. The data which revealed roughly 8 lac operational co-ops in the country not only surprised many but also made the government take the sector more seriously.
The appointment of Amit Shah as the Cooperative Minister is indicative of the fact that the government believes co-op can be a tool of development for the country, said NCUI President Dileep Sanghani. Sanghani added that the study will help us make a credible claim before the government. NCUI could be a reliable partner for the government to reach out to the last man, he stated.
The study commissioned to quantify co-ops contributions would go a long way in helping the Ministry plan its role afresh.