New Delhi, 08 April 2022: Under the guidance of the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and to provide renewed impetus to the growth of the cooperative sector and realization of the vision from Cooperation to Prosperity, a new Ministry of Cooperation has been created on 06th July 2021.Under the dynamic leadership of the Union Home and Cooperation Minister, Amit Shah, the Cooperation Ministry has been working incessantly for development of the cooperative sector for formulation of new schemes and a new Cooperation Policy.

Digitization of PACS, creation of National Database of Cooperative Societies, a scheme for Cooperative Education & Training and an umbrella scheme named “Sahkar Se Samriddhi” are amongst many such initiatives taken by the Ministry to deepen and strengthen the cooperative movement in the country. The Ministry of Cooperation is also formulating a new National Cooperation Policy which may address the new economic and social realities.

In this background, a two-day National Conference on Cooperation Policy is being organized in New Delhi on 12-13 April, 2022. The conference will be inaugurated by the Union Home & Cooperation Minister, Amit Shah. The Minister of State for Cooperation, B. L. Varma will also grace the occasion.

More than two dozen Central Ministries represented by Secretaries and Joint Secretaries, all State Governments and Union Territories represented by their Chief Secretaries, Additional Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries and Registrar Cooperatives and heads of around 40 Cooperative and other major National Institutions will participate in this conference. This conference is structured into following six important themes covering not only whole life cycle of cooperatives, but also touching upon all facets of their business and governance:

  1. Present legal framework, identification of regulatory policy, operational barriers and measures required for their removal, leading to Ease of Doing Business and providing a level playing field to cooperatives and other economic entities.
  1. Reforms for strengthening governance including cooperative principles, democratic member control, increasing member participation, transparency, regular elections, HR Policy, leveraging International and National best practices, account keeping & auditing.
  2. Making cooperatives vibrant economic entities by strengthening infrastructure, strengthening equity base, access to capital, diversification of activities, promoting entrepreneurship, promoting Branding, Marketing, Business plan development, innovation, technology adoption and exports.
  3. Training, Education, knowledge sharing and awareness building including mainstreaming cooperatives, linking training with entrepreneurship, inclusion of Women, Youth & Weaker  Sections.
  4. Promoting new cooperatives, revitalizing defunct ones, promoting cooperation among cooperatives, increasing membership, formalizing collectives, developing cooperatives for sustainable growth, mitigating regional imbalances and exploring new sectors
  5. Promoting social cooperatives and role of cooperatives in social security.

Under the guidance of the Union Home & Cooperation Minister, Amit Shah the Ministry is going to organize a series of such conferences with different stake holders, this being the first. Shortly, another workshop is proposed with all Cooperative Federations to invite their views. These efforts will culminate in the formulation of a new robust National Cooperation Policy, giving impetus to strengthen the cooperative based economic model in the country to realize the vision and mantra of Sahkar Se Samaridhi, of the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.