Cabinet approves strengthening cooperative movement in the country and deepening its reach up to the grassroots

Source: The post is based on the article “Cabinet approves strengthening cooperative movement in the country and deepening its reach up to the grassroots” published in PIB on 15th February 2023

What is the News?

The Union Cabinet has approved strengthening the cooperative movement in the country and deepening its reach up to the grassroots. 

What is the plan approved by the Government to strengthen cooperative movement in India?

The Union Government has formulated a plan to establish: 1) viable Primary Agricultural Credit Societies(PACS) in each uncovered Panchayat, 2) viable dairy cooperatives in each uncovered Panchayat/village, 3) viable fishery cooperatives in each coastal Panchayat/village as well as Panchayat/village having large water bodies and 4) strengthen the existing PACS/dairy/fishery cooperatives through convergence of various schemes.

The schemes that have been identified for convergence are: 

National Programme for Dairy Development(NPDD) and Dairy Processing & Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF) under the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying and

Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana(PMMSY) and Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development(FIDF) under the Department of Fisheries.

Target: Initially, the target is to establish 2 lakh PACS/ Dairy/ Fishery cooperatives in the next five years. 

The action plan for implementation of the project shall be prepared by NABARD, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and National Fishery Development Board (NFDB).

Committee: A high-level Inter-Ministerial Committee(IMC) headed by the Minister of Cooperation has been constituted to oversee the rollout of the plan.

What is the significance of the plan to strengthen cooperative movement?

This plan would provide farmer members all over the country with requisite forward and backward linkages to market their produce, enhance their income, obtain credit facilities and other services at the village level itself. 

Those primary cooperative societies which cannot be revived will be identified for winding up, and new primary cooperative societies would be established in their area of operation.

Further, establishing new PACS/dairy/fishery cooperative societies would generate employment opportunities in rural areas which would have a multiplier effect on the rural economy.