Page 25 - NIS English 01-15 December, 2025

International Year of Cooperatives COVER STORY
n A nodal officer has been designated within the RBI for
regular communication with urban cooperative banks.
n The license fee for onboarding cooperative banks
into the Aadhaar-enabled payment system has been
reduced by linking it to the number of transactions.
This is enabling members to access banking
services at home through biometrics.
n The government has constituted a task force on
reforms for urban cooperative banks and cooperative
credit societies under the National Federation of
Urban Cooperative Banks and Credit Societies, and
two reports have already been submitted.
RBI increases priority sector lending limit
for agricultural cooperatives (dairy) from
₹5 ₹10
crore crore
n This move will enable banks to provide greater
credit support to these societies, strengthening
agricultural infrastructure and increasing rural
credit flow.
government announced the National Cooperative
Policy. This policy aimed to strengthen the overall
development of cooperatives in the country. A
ministerial-level task force was formed to prepare
an action plan for implementing this policy. This
task force recommended that a single law be imple-
mented instead of parallel laws in the states. The
cooperative system in India can broadly be classified
into two types: credit and non-credit cooperatives.
Gross Domestic Product and
employment generation are two key
metrics for measuring economic
progress in India. The world’s largest
food grain storage scheme aims
to strengthen both these aspects,
increasing the income of PACS
while also creating rural employment
opportunities.
Amit Shah, Union Minister of Home
Affairs and Cooperation
Credit cooperatives ensure loans at affordable
interest rates for agriculture, consumption, and
marketing in rural areas; consumer cooperatives
meet the consumption demand of farmers at
concessional rates. Marketing societies eliminate
middlemen in commodity transactions, ensuring
remunerative prices for products. Cooperatives
also undertake activities related to marketing,
processing, distribution, and supply for agricul-
tural and small-scale industries.
There are over 800,000 registered cooperative
societies in the country, with over 300 million
members engaged in agriculture and allied activ-
ities. The cooperative sector has always played a
vital role in the overall economic development of
the country. The cooperative model is generating
widespread financial prosperity by empowering
the economically disadvantaged sections of
Indian society to drive economic growth.
MINISTRY CREATED WITH THE MAN-
TRA OF SAHKAR SE SAMRIDDHI
Cooperatives are aligned with India’s fundamen-
tal philosophy, nature, and culture. The central
government, led by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, took a historic step to realize the mantra
of Sahkar Se Samriddhi by establishing a new
ministry on July 6, 2021, the Ministry of Coop-
eration. Its objective was to provide a distinct
administrative, legal, and policy framework to
strengthen the cooperative sector. The coopera-
tive-based development model is highly relevant
December 1-15, 2025 || NEW INDIA SAMACHAR 23