Ahead Of Cabinet Reshuffle, PM Modi Sets Up New Ministry Of Cooperation

Ahead of the Cabinet reshuffle, Prime Minister Narendra Modi set up a 'Ministry of Cooperation'. The ministry will come under the government's vision of 'Sahkar Se Samriddhi' and provide specialised legal, administrative, and policy frameworks. It would help deepen cooperatives as a people-based movement. The creation of this mnistry fulfils Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's announcement during the Union Budget.

Ease Of Doing Business

As reported by Live Mint, the ministry will work to streamline processes for 'Ease of doing business' for co-operatives and enable development of Multi-State Co-operatives (MSCS). The initiative would aid the development of multi-state cooperatives.

While presenting the Budget in February this year, Sitharaman had said: "The government is committed to the development of multi-state cooperatives and will provide all support to them. To further streamline the 'ease of doing business' for cooperatives, I propose to set up a separate administrative structure for them."

What Is A Cooperative?

A cooperative is a small organisation run jointly by its members, who are entitled to share the profits and losses of the business. Anand Milk Union Limited (AMUL), Indian Farmer Fertiliser's Cooperative (IFFCO) and Mother Dairy are examples of some well-established cooperatives in India. Previously, the government provided financial assistance to the cooperatives in terms of share capital investment. The share capital base was strengthened to enable cooperative societies to augment their income and those belonging to poor socio-economic sections.

The cooperatives were officially recognised in India after the formation of the Cooperative Societies Act in 1904. The cooperatives across the country are governed under the National Cooperative Development Corporation, a statutory body set up under the Act of Indian Parliament in March 1963. The cooperatives have proven to help small farmers to improve the quality of their produce and increase their income.

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