Page 57 - NIS English 16-31 August 2025

Union Cabinet Decisions

Boosting Cooperative Society

Multitracking Projects Of Railways Approved

Farmers are the priority of the Central Government, and strengthening modern infrastructure
is the biggest goal. In this direction, 6 major decisions were approved in the Union Cabinet
meeting held on July 31 under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Under these,
while crores of rupees will be given to the National Cooperative Development Corporation
(NCDC) to further strengthen the cooperative societies, the focus will be on agriculture-related
infrastructure under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana. Along with this, the approval of
four multitracking projects of the Railways will give a new pace to the rail network…

DECISION: Central grant of We have taken an important step to
Rs 2,000 crore to NCDC in four strengthen the cooperative societies of
years. In this, assistance of Rs the country. Under this, a central grant
500 crore will be given every year assistance scheme of Rs 2,000 crore
from the financial year 2025-26. has been approved for the National
Cooperative Development Corporation.
Sectors like dairy and storage will
IMPACT: The cooperative sector benefit greatly from this.
has an important contribution to the
Indian economy. Cooperatives play - Narendra Modi, Prime Minister
an important role in socio-economic
upliftment, developing infrastructure, DECISION: A total budget of Rs 6,520 crore has been approved for
and generating employment in rural the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY), including an
areas. There are more than 8 lakh 25 additional expenditure of Rs 1,920 crore.
thousand cooperative societies in the IMPACT: Along with the budget approval, the Union Cabinet has made a
country, which have nearly 30 crore provision of Rs 1,000 crore for the establishment of 50 multi-product food
members. 94 percent of the farmers in irradiation units and 100 food testing labs accredited by NABL. In this, financial
the country are associated with these assistance will be given to strengthen the infrastructure, and special attention
societies in some form or the other. will be given to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe dominated areas,
The amount of grant released by the including remote areas. The implementation of the proposed 50 irradiation units
government to the National Cooperative is expected to develop the capacity of food preservation up to 20 to 30 lakh
Development Corporation will be Rs metric tonnes per year. PM Krishi Sampada Yojana was launched in 2017 to help
500 crore every year in four years (from develop agro-processing clusters, cold chains, value-added infrastructure, and
2025-26 to 2028-29). Along with this, food processing capabilities. Irradiation helps reduce post-harvest crop losses,
the corporation will also be able to raise prevent microbial contamination, and increase the shelf life of food products.
Rs 20,000 crore from the open market DECISION: 4 multitracking projects covering 13 districts of Maharashtra,
in this four-year period. The fund given Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, and Jharkhand approved.
by the government will be given by the IMPACT: These projects, with an estimated cost of about Rs 11,169 crore, will be
corporation in the form of a loan to completed by the year 2028-29. Direct employment of about 229 lakh man-days
the cooperative institutions to start new will also be generated during the construction of the projects. These projects
projects, expand the plant, and meet the include the Itarsi-Nagpur 4th line, Aurangabad (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar)-Par-
working capital needs. This decision will bhani doubling, Aluabari Road-New Jalpaiguri 3rd and 4th lines, and Dangoapo-
benefit about 2 crore 90 lakh members si-Jaroli 3rd and 4th lines. Adding about 574 km to the existing network of the
of 13,288 cooperative societies. Indian Railways. The proposed multitracking project will enhance connectivity to
about 2,309 villages, having a population of about 43.60 lakh. n

August 16-31, 2025 || NEW INDIA SAMACHAR 55