Startups and private businesses cannot by themselves take the Make In India scheme to the heights it aims to attain, in this era of intense competition from global industries with heavy capital. India needs the cooperative sector to play a part in this, and also in making India a USD 5 trillion global economy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 28 highlighted the role of cooperatives in our roadmap to be a 5 trillion USD economy.
In regards to strengthening cooperatives and SMEs, PM Modi said that the GeM portal had brought transparency, efficiency and low costs in the public procurement process.
“Dairy sector is growing rapidly and is also contributing more to the rural economy. The sector is majorly driven by women and small farmers in the country. 70 lakh women of Gujarat have been the biggest contributor of our dominant dairy sector,” Prime Minister Modi said.
“The strength of cooperatives, especially women working in them, can be seen through how Lijjat Papad and Amul have become globally renowned brands,” Prime Minister further said.
With this model, India is now the world’s largest dairy producer, with production worth Rs. 8 lakh crore. The country needs to replicate the success it made with cooperatives in the dairy sector. With this objective, Government created the new Ministry of Cooperation to provide a separate administrative, legal and policy framework for encouraging cooperative based economic model in the country. As the entire animal husbandry sector is worth ₹9.5 lakh crore, India has a room for successful cooperative movement in this sector.
Agricultural cooperatives and small farmers have not had a better time than now for scaling up their efforts and saving cost. Government is bearing the cost of Rs 3,500 on a 50 kg bag of Urea and Rs 2,500 on a bag of DAP. The power of a sack of Urea has been condensed into a bottle, saving the farmers from the transportation cost. With the inauguration of the Kalol plant, 1.5 lakh such bottles will be produced a day, and 8 more such plants are in the pipeline. In recent years, the Government has given relief to the cooperative societies by reducing the tax. In recent years, the Government has given relief to the cooperative societies by reducing the tax.
Government initiatives for Cooperatives
There are 8.54 lakh cooperative units in the country, as of February 9. Lack of effective governance, leadership and professional management in cooperative units are the issues that are decelerating the growth of many of these cooperatives.
To make cooperatives more transparent and efficient, the initiatives taken by the Ministry are creation of a National database of Cooperatives, digitalisation of about 63,000 active Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS) and a scheme for Cooperative Education & Training.
Government is also formulating a new National Cooperation Policy, for which it has started consultations with various stakeholders including various Ministries/Departments of Central Governments, State Governments, Cooperative Federations, NABARD and other major cooperative institutions of the country.
