The North News
New Delhi, March 6
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called for partnerships with international cooperative organisations to boost the country’s cooperative sector, emphasising the promotion of organic products and exploring export markets. Chairing a high-level meeting at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg, Modi outlined a multi-faceted approach to strengthen cooperatives, from agriculture to education.
He proposed the development of a soil testing model through cooperatives to enhance agricultural practices and suggested integrating the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with RuPay Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) to streamline financial transactions. Modi underscored the need for healthy competition among cooperative organizations and advocated for documenting cooperative assets to maintain transparency.
Modi also recommended promoting cooperative farming as a sustainable agricultural model and leveraging digital public infrastructure like Agristack to expand agricultural services in the cooperative sector. He proposed introducing cooperative studies in schools, colleges, and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) to inspire young talent, encouraging graduates to contribute to the sector. Ranking cooperative organizations by performance was suggested to foster competition and growth.
The meeting included briefings on the National Cooperation Policy 2025, which aims to accelerate rural economic development and enhance the cooperative sector’s role in the economy. The Ministry of Cooperation has implemented 60 initiatives, including digitizing institutions through the National Cooperative Database and focusing on the sustainability of cooperative sugar mills.
Highlighting the cooperative sector’s contribution to agriculture, rural development, and economic inclusion, Modi noted that over 8.2 lakh cooperative institutions, with more than 30 crore members, are active in over 30 sectors. The government has introduced a bill to transform IRMA Anand into “Tribhuvan Cooperative University,” establishing it as an Institution of National Importance to support cooperative education, training, and research.
The meeting was attended by Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah, Ministry of Cooperation Secretary Dr. Ashish Kumar Bhutani, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Dr. P.K. Mishra, and other senior officials.
