Ministry of Cooperation
About
Ministry of Cooperation was created by transferring the existing entries related to cooperation and cooperative in the business of the erstwhile Ministry of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare vide Cabinet Secretariat’s Gazette Notification dated 6th July, 2021.
The Ministry is headed by Shri Amit Shah, Hon’ble Minister for Cooperation and assisted by Shri Krishan Pal and Shri Murlidhar Mohol, Hon’ble Ministers of State for Cooperation. Secretary, Cooperation is the administrative head of the Ministry. Secretary, Cooperation is assisted by one Additional Secretary, two Joint Secretaries and one Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies.
The Ministry is responsible for provide a separate administrative, legal and policy framework for strengthening the cooperative movement in country. Its aims to deepen co-operatives as a true people-based movement reaching up to the grassroots and develop a cooperative based economic model where each member works with a spirit to responsibility. The principal activities of the Ministry include streamlining processes for ‘Ease of doing business’ for co-operatives and enabling development of Multi-State Co-operative Societies. It lays emphasis on strengthening, bringing transparency, modernization, computerization, creating competitive cooperatives, working constantly to meet the challenge of accessibility to development for every underprivileged in rural areas and on connecting every village with cooperatives, making every village prosperous with the mantra of “Sahakar se Samriddhi” and through this making the country prosperous.
Initiatives of Ministry of Cooperation
| S.N. | Subject/Initiative |
|---|---|
| (A) | Economic strengthening of Primary Co-operative Societies (16) |
| 1 | Model Bye-Laws for making PACS Multipurpose |
| 2 | Strengthening of PACS through Computerization |
| 3 | Establishment of Multipurpose PACS/Dairy/Fisheries Cooperative Societies in every Panchayat/Village |
| 4 | World's largest Decentralized Grain Storage Program in Cooperative sector to ensure food security |
| 5 | PACS as Common Service Centres (CSCs) for better access to e-Services |
| 6 | Formation of new Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) by PACS |
| 7 | Eligibility of PACS for LPG Distributorship |
| 8 | Permission to convert Bulk Consumer Petrol Pump operated by PACS into retail outlets |
| 9 | Priority to PACS for new Petrol/Diesel Pump dealerships. |
| 10 | PACS as Jan Aushadhi Kendra for access to generic medicines at Rural level |
| 11 | PACS as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samridhi Kendra (PMKSK) |
| 12 | Micro-ATMs to Bank Mitra Cooperative Societies with the help of NABARD |
| 13 | Rupay Kisan Credit Card to Members of Cooperative Societies |
| 14 | PACS as Paani Samiti |
| 15 | Convergence of PM-KUSUM Scheme at PACS Level |
| 16 | Formation of Fish Farmer Producer Organization (FFPO) |
| (B) | Three new Multi-State Cooperative Societies at the National Level (3) |
| 1 | New National Level Multi-State Cooperative Society for Exports |
| 2 | New National Level Multi-State Cooperative Society for Certified Seeds |
| 3 | New National Level Multi-State Cooperative Society for Organic Farming |
| (C) | Relief in Income Tax Law for Co-operative Societies (6) |
| 1 | Reduction in surcharge on Income Tax for Cooperative Societies |
| 2 | Reduction in Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) on Cooperative Societies |
| 3 | Increase in limit of Cash Deposits and Cash Loans by PACS and PCARDBs |
| 4 | Tax cut for new manufacturing Cooperative Societies |
| 5 | Increase in the limit of Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) in Cash Withdrawal |
| 6 | Relief in cash transactions under section 269ST of the Income Tax Act |
| (D) | Strengthening of Office of Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies (2) |
| 1 | Computerization of Central Registrar's Office |
| 2 | The Multi-State Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Act, 2023 |
| (E) | Revival of Cooperative Sugar Mills (5) |
| 1 | Relief from Income Tax to Cooperative Sugar Mills |
| 2 | Resolving decades old pending issues related to income tax of Cooperative Sugar Mills |
| 3 | Rs10,000 crore loan scheme through NCDC for strengthening of Cooperative Sugar Mills |
| 4 | Preference in purchase of ethanol to Cooperative Sugar Mills and establishment of Cogen Power Plants |
| 5 | Reduction in GST on Molasses from 28% to 5% to help Cooperative Sugar Mills |
| (F) | Redressal of difficulties faced by Co-operative Banks (12) |
| 1 | Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs) will now be able to open new branches to expand their business. |
| 2 | Cooperative Banks will also be able to make one-time settlement of outstanding loans, like Commercial Banks. |
| 3 | Additional time limit has been given to achieve the Priority Sector Lending (PSL) targets given to UCBs. |
| 4 | A Nodal Officer has been designated in RBI for regular interaction with UCBs. |
| 5 | RBI has permitted UCBs to provide door-step banking services to their customers. |
| 6 | RBI has more than doubled the individual housing loan limit for Rural and Urban Co-operative Banks. |
| 7 | Rural Co-operative Banks will now be able to lend to commercial real estate - residential housing sector, thereby diversifying their business. |
| 8 | Co-operative Banks have been included as Member Lending Institutions [MLIs] of CGTMSE. With this, now the member Co-operative Banks will be able to take advantage of risk coverage up to 85 percent on the loans given. Along with this, the cooperative sector enterprises will also now be able to get collateral free loans from Co-operative Banks. |
| 9 | License fee for onboarding Co-operative Banks to the modern 'Aadhaar Enabled Payment System' (AePS) has been reduced by linking it to the number of transactions. Apart from this, cooperative financial institutions will also be able to get the facility free of cost for the first three months of the preproduction phase. With this, farmers will now be able to get the facility of banking at their home with their fingerprints. |
| 10 | Notification of scheduling norms for urban co-operative banks is being published by the Government |
| 11 | RBI has doubled monetary ceiling for Gold Loan under Bullet Repayment Scheme from 2 Lakh to 4 Lakh for those UCBs who meet the Priority Sector Lending (PSL) targets. |
| 12 | Umbrella Organization for Urban Cooperative Banks |
| (G) | Expansion of National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) (2) |
| 1 | New schemes for Cooperative Societies started by NCDC |
| 2 | Financial assistance by NCDC for Deep Sea Trawlers |
| (H) | Inclusion of Cooperative Societies as 'Buyer' on GeM Portal (1) |
| 1 | Inclusion of Cooperative Societies as 'Buyer' on GeM Portal |
| (I) | New National Cooperation Policy & New National Cooperative Database (2) |
| 1 | Formulation of New National Cooperation Policy |
| 2 | New National Cooperative Database |
| (J) | Education and Training in the Cooperative Sector (2) |
| 1 | Establishment of Cooperative University |
| 2 | Promotion of training and awareness through NCCT |
| (K) | Other Initiatives (3) |
| 1 | Computerization of Agriculture and Rural Development Banks (ARDBs) |
| 2 | Scheme for computerization of office of Registrar of Cooperative Societies in States/Union Territories |
| 3 | Refund to Investors of Sahara Group of Societies(ARDBs) |
| (L) | Implementation Strategy |
* Information about these initiatives in detail is available on the official Website of Ministry of Cooperation, you can visit https://www.cooperation.gov.in/initiatives-ministry-cooperation