The new National Cooperative Policy is being formulated to realise the vision of ‘Sahakar Se Samriddhi ’ under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Towards this end, a committee, under the chairmanship of former Union cabinet minister Suresh Prabhu, has constituted.
The committee comprises experts from the cooperative sector, representatives of national/state/district & primary cooperative societies, secretaries (Cooperation) & Registrars of Cooperative Societies of States / UTs, and officers from central ministries and departments.
The existing National Policy on Cooperatives, was formulated in 2002 with the objectives of facilitating all round development of cooperatives and providing necessary support, encouragement and assistance to them, so as to ensure that cooperatives work as autonomous, self-reliant and democratically managed institutions accountable to their members and make a significant contribution to the national economy.
“Today, India has around 8.5 lakh co-operative societies with a member base of around 29 crore, spread across the length and breadth of the country. These cooperatives are eng Inaged in varied activities like agro-processing, dairying, fisheries, housing, weaving, credit, marketing, to name a few,” the Ministry of Cooperation said in a release.The new policy document is being formulated to strengthen the cooperative movement in the country and deepen its reach, promote cooperative-based economic development model, create an appropriate policy, legal and institutional framework to help cooperatives realise their potential.