Centre to set up database for cooperatives: Amit Shah

He also said the Central government will facilitate multi-state cooperative bodies for helping farmers export their produce and also to get their produce certified as organic while ensuring that every village has a ‘seva sahkari mandali’ (cooperative service societies) within the next five years. These mandalis (societies) will be converted into multi-purpose organisations.

Shah, who is also the Union Home Minister, further said that over the next five years, more than a lakh new seva sahkari mandalis will be set up so that every village has one such cooperative body. “Today, there are 65,000 seva sahkari mandalis. From this December, a five-year-long programme will be launched to take this number to three lakh. The day registration of these three lakh seva sahkari mandalis is completed, every panchayat in the country will have one seva sahkari mandali in place. I believe this will prove a movement for farmers’ welfare,” he said, adding the Union government has allotted Rs 2,500 crore for computerisation of cooperative bodies and their integration with banks.

Shah said the Central government has decided to expand the area of operations of the cooperative sector and the government will bring in a new policy. “We want to bring in a new cooperative policy which will facilitate entry of cooperatives in sectors like health, insurance, transportation, tourism etc,” he said, adding a university will be set up for training members of cooperative bodies.

He added that seva sahkari mandlis will be transformed into organisations offering multiple services. “Not keeping our seva sahkari mandalis limited to the only business of advancing loans, we have to make them multipurpose organisations that will provide services such as marketing, godowns, biogas generation, electricity connections, running gas distribution agencies, operating Nal se Jal projects, PCOs (public call offices), etc,” the minister said, adding, “Model bylaws of these multipurpose cooperative societies have been drafted and we will send them (to states) and we will make seva sahkari mandalis profitable by converting them into multi-purpose organisations.”

Shah said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi set up the new Ministry of Cooperation, at the behest of Union Animal Husbandry and Dairying Minister Parsottam Rupala, and that Central government are committed to make the slogan of ‘sahkarita se samridhhi’ (prosperity through cooperation) a reality.

The Cooperation Minister also said the Central government will also facilitate creation of a cooperative export house so that farmers can export their produce. “Today, agricultural products are attracting good prices world over. But farmers and seva sahkari mandalis don’t have the capacity to export and therefore, the profit goes to accounts of big companies that purchase such products and are selling in the overseas markets. We are going to set up a multi-state cooperative export house that will export produce of farmers routed through seva sahkari mandalis,” said Shah.

He also added PM Modi has taken the initiative of reimagining the cooperative sector. “Modi has taken up the task of giving a new form, new purpose and new targets to cooperatives. As Cooperation Minister, I assure you that within five years, we will ensure that the cooperation department becomes among the most important departments in the Central government,” said the minister.

Organic products can give farmers higher returns but there is an issue of certifying authorities, he said, adding that under the leadership of Amul, the dairy cooperative giant of Gujarat, the Central government will form a multi-state cooperative body to certify organic products. “Today, there is no mechanism to certify what product is organic. There is no marketing mechanism either for such organic products. By bringing Amul and five other cooperatives together, we will form a multi-state cooperative society that will set up laboratories in every state of the country. These laboratories will analyse soil and produce of farmers and will give the seal of Amul and the profit will directly go to farmers account,” he said at

Shah also said the Central government will also facilitate creation of a multi-state cooperative for research on and production of seed of new high-yielding varieties. “By utilising land belonging to the agriculture department of the Central government and by bringing on board seva sahkari mandalis, we are going to put in place a system whereby seed production will be done on their farms. This will increase their income as well as those farmers who will sow these improved seed varieties,” said Shah.

Union Minister Parsottam Rupala, who was present at the event, said that a centre will be set up in Amreli for conservation and breed improvement of Gir breed of cattle and Jafrabadi breed of buffaloes.