Source: Press Information Bureau (PIB), Government of India — Ministry of Cooperation PIB Delhi Read the original release on pib.gov.in
- Under the vision of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi of ‘Prosperity through cooperation’ and the leadership of Union Home and Cooperation Minister Shri Amit Shah, the focus is on comprehensive transformation of the cooperative sector, institutional strengthening and accelerating inclusive growth.
- Dr. Ashish Kumar Bhutani, Secretary, Ministry of Cooperatives, called for strengthening the democratic system, transparency, accountability and effective good governance in cooperative institutions.
- Along with autonomy of cooperative banks, accountability and effective monitoring is necessary, cooperative registrars of states will have to play a more active role: Dr. Bhutani
- The recent amendment to the NCDC Act will also provide new opportunities for financial assistance to other institutions promoting cooperative development.
- Suggestions will be taken from the states on the concept of common digital platform and model cooperative bank for marketing of cooperative products.
- Special focus on development of strong value chains in exports, organic products and seeds sector through national cooperatives NCEL, NCOL and BBSSL.
- Review of successful initiatives of states in the field of PACS, dairy cooperatives, cooperative banking, digitization and business diversification and action plan for the next three months.
- In the two-day workshop, emphasis was laid on preparing practical models and future strategies for the cooperative sector based on the experiences, challenges and innovations of the states.
Under the vision of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi of 'Prosperity from Cooperation' and the leadership of Union Home and Cooperation Minister Shri Amit Shah, continuous efforts are being made towards making the cooperative sector of the country more powerful, transparent, accountable and economically efficient. In this sequence, the 9th National Review Workshop is being organized by the Ministry of Cooperation on 8 and 9 October 2026 in Bastar, Chhattisgarh on the topic ‘Cooperation to prosperity – the way forward: From cooperative transformation to wider impact’. The objective of this workshop is to review the progress of major initiatives being implemented in the cooperative sector, share successful practices and ground experiences of the states and prepare a result-oriented action plan for the next three months. Senior officials of various states, cooperative registrars, representatives of national cooperative institutions and unions and key stakeholders associated with the cooperative sector are participating in the workshop. The two-day workshop is designed to be an important platform for state-led deliberations and exchange of experiences, where detailed discussions are being held on topics such as revival of cooperative institutions, financial strengthening, business diversification, digitalization, capacity building and enhancing market access.
Addressing the inaugural session of the workshop, Dr. Ashish Kumar Bhutani, Secretary, Ministry of Cooperation, said that the suggestion of organizing this workshop for cooperative development in Bastar district, which has been affected by leftist extremism for a long time, was given by Union Home and Cooperation Minister Shri Amit Shah himself, which increases the importance of this initiative even more. He said that the objective of this workshop is not only to discuss various schemes and initiatives, but also to implement the experiences and conclusions drawn from them on the ground. The cooperative movement can be further strengthened by better coordination among cooperative institutions, institutional cooperation and widespread adoption of successful practices. Emphasizing on ensuring democratic system, transparency and adherence to the basic principles of cooperation in cooperative institutions, Dr. Bhutani said that these institutions play an important role in the economic empowerment of small businessmen and common citizens in rural and semi-urban areas.
Referring to the cooperative banking sector, Dr. Bhutani said that cooperative banks are an important medium of providing financial services to those sections of the society who are sometimes unable to get adequate loans and other banking facilities from commercial and private banks. He said that along with the autonomy of cooperative banks, their accountability and effective monitoring is also extremely important. Pointing out the need to develop a more systematic and strategic monitoring mechanism to address the deficiencies in administration and good governance of cooperative banks, he urged the cooperative registrars of all states to play a more vigilant and active role in this direction. He cautioned that the impact of any weakness in monitoring is not limited to the concerned institution only, but can have an impact on the credibility of the entire cooperative sector.
Secretary, Ministry of Co-operation said that the Ministry is continuously coordinating with the Reserve Bank of India, so as to enhance the resource mobilization capacity of cooperative banks and strengthen the possibilities of providing financial assistance at concessional rates to farmers and other stakeholders associated with the cooperative sector. He also stressed the need to adopt modern technologies, strengthen risk management and enhance customer confidence to make cooperative banking more competitive.
Underlining the importance of availability of financial resources for cooperative development, Dr. Bhutani said that the participation of NABARD team in the workshop will provide an opportunity for meaningful discussions on issues related to financing of various schemes and institutions. He informed that a special session has also been scheduled with the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), in which the availability of financial assistance for various initiatives in the cooperative sector and the specific needs of the states will be discussed. He said that in the last two-three years, NCDC has emerged as a major institution providing financial and institutional support to the cooperative sector. Referring to the recent amendment made in the NCDC Act, he said that this has paved the way for providing financial assistance even to those institutions which are not themselves cooperative institutions, but work to promote cooperative development. This may open new opportunities for various institutions in the states to get direct financial assistance from NCDC. He urged states to effectively leverage these opportunities and pursue financing initiatives with better coordination.
Throwing light on the possibilities of the dairy sector, Dr. Bhutani said that in the workshop, there will be detailed discussions on the initiatives run by dairy institutions, the possibilities of developing them as cooperative institutions and measures to strengthen the related value chains. Along with this, human resource policies, institutional capacity building, innovation and emerging needs of the cooperative sector will also be discussed.
The Cooperation Secretary urged all the states to share the new experiments, successful models and innovations being done in their respective cooperative sectors. He said that many notable initiatives are being implemented in different states, but information about them does not reach other states adequately. Citing examples of initiatives taken by some states in activities related to electric vehicles, he said that sharing of such experiences will create a strong knowledge-base of successful practices at the national level and encourage other states to adopt similar innovations.
Referring to the proposal to develop a common cooperative digital platform for more effective marketing of cooperative products and agricultural produce, Dr. Bhutani said that the progress of this initiative and the possible role of states in taking it forward will be discussed in detail in the workshop. He said that Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) has also offered to cooperate in this initiative. He said that before moving forward in this direction, suggestions and guidance from the states will be obtained, so that a practical and effective system can be developed to connect the cooperative institutions with the wider markets.
Dr. Ashish Kumar Bhutani said that the discussions in the workshop have been made more participatory, so that the Ministry can listen to the experiences, problems and suggestions of the states in detail. Based on these suggestions, it will help in preparing practical models, guidelines and circulars as per the ground needs. He urged the states to openly put forward their challenges related to operation, financing, administration and business expansion of cooperative institutions.
Highlighting the role of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) and Tribal Cooperative Institutions, the Cooperative Secretary said that visits to some selected cooperative institutions have also been included in the program of the workshop. These visits will give the participants an opportunity to directly see the functioning of cooperative institutions and understand the systems being adopted at the local level. He stressed the need to link PACS and tribal cooperative institutions with state and national level cooperative unions, so that their products and produce can get better market and remunerative prices to the members.
Calling for a more in-depth assessment of government procurement activities through PACS, Dr. Bhutani said that there should be a detailed assessment of the actual experiences of PACS in the states where they are participating in government procurement activities. He urged the States to share information related to the commission received by PACS, actual economic benefits, delays in payments and the overall financial feasibility of these activities. He said that by compiling the successful practices of different states, such practical models can be developed which can be adopted on a large scale across the country.
In the inaugural session, Chief Secretary of Chhattisgarh Shri Vikas Sheel welcomed the representatives of all the states and institutions participating in the workshop and assured full support from the Government of Chhattisgarh for the development of the cooperative sector. He expressed confidence that this workshop organized in Bastar will provide new impetus to cooperation, exchange of experiences and development of practical solutions among the states. He said that based on the suggestions and findings received from the workshop, it will help in furthering the efforts to make cooperative institutions more strong, transparent, accountable and effective.
On the first day of the workshop, the achievements of the last three months under the major initiatives of the Ministry of Cooperation were reviewed and the progress as per the national priorities and the action plan for the next three months were discussed in detail. These included formation of multipurpose PACS, computerization of PACS, world's largest grain storage scheme in the cooperative sector, business diversification, cooperative banking and initiatives involving NCEL, NCOL, BBSSL and NCDC.
During the workshop, sessions were organized on the theme ‘Story of Cooperative Development – North Eastern States and Eastern Frontier Region’, with special focus on cooperative development in Left Wing Extremism affected districts of Chhattisgarh and Odisha. Additionally, measures to strengthen the cooperative banking sector, credit delivery system, promote business diversification, adoption of new technologies, improvement in risk management and enhancing customer confidence were discussed. Strengthening of primary cooperatives through national cooperatives like National Cooperative Export Limited (NCEL), National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL) and Indian Seed Cooperative Society Limited (BBSSL) were also discussed. The discussions also included topics like strengthening administrative and business capabilities of cooperatives, enhancing benefits to members, creating opportunities for sustainable development and development of emerging value chains through Multipurpose Primary Cooperatives (MPP) and Multipurpose Cooperative Societies (MCC).
This is the official press release issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), and is published without changes.
