Year End Review 2022: Ministry of Cooperation – EQ Mag

A Summary of Important Developments

Union Minister for Home and Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah laid the foundation stone of ‘Sahkari Shikshan Bhawan’ of District Central Cooperative Bank Limited in Bharuch, Gujarat. (3rd June 2022)

• The construction of this Bhawan will not only educate people but also bring out the fundamentals, knowledge and importance of cooperative sector.
• After the construction of this training center of Bharuch District Central Cooperative Bank, it will become a computer lab, cooperative library and general knowledge center for the functioning of circles.
• The bank has become strong, there are very few banks in the country with only 5 percent Non Performing Assets (NPA) and 22 percent Dividend and Bharuch District Central Cooperative
• Bank is one of them. It is one of the oldest banks in Gujarat. 49 branches and a capital of about Rs 1205 crores are testimony to the history of this 115 year old bank.
• Bharuch District Central Cooperative Bank decided to construct this modern training building by spending Rs.3.25 crore. This will provide training to all types of cooperatives in Bharuch district.

2. Cabinet approves Computerization of Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS). (29th June 2022)

• 63,000 functional PACS to be computerized with overall budget outlay of Rs 2516 crore.
• It will benefit approx. 13 crore farmers most of which are Small & Marginal Farmers.
• It will bring transparency, efficiency, enhance trustworthiness and help PACS to become nodal delivery service point at Panchayat level.
• The main components are Cloud based unified software with data storage, Cyber security, Hardware, digitization of existing records, Maintenance and Training.
• This software will be in vernacular language having flexibility of customization as per the needs of the States. Project Management Units (PMUs) will be set up at Central and State levels.
• District Level Support will also be provided at cluster of about 200 PACS. In the case of states where computerization of PACS has been completed, Rs. 50,000/- per PACS will be reimbursed provided they agree to integrate with/adopt the common software, their hardware meets the required specifications, and the software was commissioned after 1st February, 2017.
• PACS account for 41 % (3.01 Cr. farmers) of the KCC loans given by all entities in the Country and 95 % of these KCC loans (2.95 Cr. farmers) through PACS are to the Small and Marginal farmers.
• It has been proposed to computerize all the PACS throughout the Country and bring them on a common platform at National level and have a Common Accounting System (CAS) for their day to day business.
• Computerization of PACS, besides serving the purpose of financial inclusion and strengthening service delivery to farmers especially Small & Marginal Farmers (SMFs) will also become nodal service delivery point for various services and provision of inputs like fertilizers, seeds etc.
• The project will help in improving the outreach of the PACS as outlets for banking activities as well as non-Banking activities apart from improving digitalization in rural areas.
• The DCCBs can then enroll themselves as one of the important options for taking up various government schemes (where credit and subsidy is involved) which can be implemented through PACS.

3. Credit Guarantee Fund Trust (CGTMSE) through its circular No. 194/2021-22 dated 03.02.2022 has notified non-Scheduled Urban Co-operative Banks, State Cooperative Banks and District Central Cooperative Banks as Member Credit Institutions of the Scheme with specified eligibility criteria. This will increase the reach of the CGTMSE scheme to the cooperative sector and help in providing adequate, affordable and timely credit to cooperatives to promote cooperative-based economic development models.

4. On June 08, 2022, RBI announced very important policy decisions for the cooperative sector:-

• Firstly, the individual housing loan limit for Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) was doubled from Rs 30 lakh to Rs 60 lakh for Tier-I UCBs and from Rs 70 lakh to Rs 1.40 crore for Tier-II
• UCBs and more than doubled to Rs 20 lakh and Rs 30 lakh for Rural Cooperative Banks (RCB) respectively. It has been increased to Rs 50 lakh and Rs 75 lakh.
• Secondly, rural cooperative banks have been allowed to lend to commercial real estate residential housing sector.
• Thirdly, urban co-operative banks have now been allowed to provide door-step banking facility to their customers on the lines of commercial banks. These decisions will meet the long standing demands of cooperative banks and give a new inputs to the development of the cooperative sector.

5. An allocation of Rs.900 crore has been made in the Union Budget for the financial year 2022-23 for implementation of various activities of the Ministry of Cooperation, which is about 2.5 times the budget provision for the year 2021-22.

NEW INITIATIVES

6. Union Minister of Home and Cooperation Shri Amit Shah addressed National Conference on Cooperative Policy in New Delhi. (12th April 2022)

• Cooperatives played a huge role in creating an economic model for rural development and providing employment to the poor people, so that they can live a dignified life.
• Every village in developed states must have PACS, milk cooperative markets, credit societies or cooperative banks, and there should be no area where cooperatives cannot reach.
• Aspire to take developed states towards saturation, develop the developing states and to create a strategy to take backward states directly into the category of developed states.
• A very large part of the country that is economically backward, cooperative is the only model that can make 80 crore people financially prosperous.

7. Two-day National Conference (12-13 April, 2022) on Cooperation Policy concludes. (13th April 2022)

The conference was structured into six important themes covering not only whole life cycle of cooperatives but also touching upon all the facets of their business and governance.
The panel discussions have been held on following themes:

A. Present legal framework, identification of Regulatory policy, Operational barriers and measures required for their removal leading to Ease of Doing Business and providing a level playing field to cooperatives and other economic entities.

B. Reforms for strengthening governance including cooperative principles, democratic member control, increasing member participation, transparency, regular elections, HR Policy, leveraging International & National best practices, account keeping & auditing.

C. Multi Cooperative Vibrant economic entities by strengthening infrastructure, strengthening equity base, access to capital, diversification of activities, promoting entrepreneurship, promoting branding, marketing, business plan development, innovation, technology adoption and exports

D. Training, Education, knowledge sharing and Awareness Building including mainstreaming cooperatives, linking training with entrepreneurship, inclusion of Women, Youth & Weaker Sections

E. Promoting new cooperatives, revitalizing defunct ones, promoting cooperation among cooperatives, increasing membership, formalizing collectives, developing cooperatives for sustainable growth, mitigating regional imbalances & exploring new sectors.

F. Promoting social cooperative and role of cooperatives in social security.

8. Cooperative Societies on GeM Platform: A step towards a transparent, efficient, and economic procurement system. (2nd June 2022)

• The Union Cabinet approved the registration of cooperative societies as ‘Buyers’ on Government e-Marketplace (GeM) platform.
• This enabled the cooperative societies to access more than 45 Lakh vendors on a single platform and to follow a transparent, economic and efficient procurement system.
• There are around 54 lakh products listed across 9,702 product categories and 279 service categories. There was an estimated savings of around Rs.10, 000 crores in the FY 2021-22.

9. Union Home and Cooperation Minister, Shri Amit Shah announces constitution of National level committee for drafting the national cooperation policy document. ( 6th September 2022 )

• The National Level Committee under the Chairmanship of former Union Cabinet Minister, Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, consists of 47 members from all parts of the country.
• The Committee comprises experts of the cooperative sector; representatives of National / State / District & Primary Cooperative Societies; Secretaries (Cooperation) & Registrars of Cooperative Societies of States / UTs; and Officers from Central Ministries / Departments.
• The new National Cooperative Policy is being formulated to realize vision of ‘Sahakar Se Samriddhi’ under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi.
• The existing National Policy on Cooperatives was formulated in 2002 with the objectives of facilitating all round development of cooperatives and providing necessary support, encouragement and assistance to them, so as to ensure that cooperatives work as autonomous, self-reliant and democratically managed institutions accountable to their members and make a significant contribution to the national economy.

10. The Union Minister for Home and Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah addressed a two-day National Conference of State Cooperation Ministers in New Delhi. (8th September 2022)

• In the next 2 months, government will form a multi-state cooperative of seed culture and marketing and certification of organic products, which will directly benefit farmers involved in organic farming.
• Government of India will be setting up a multistate export house which will export Khadi products, handicrafts and agriculture products to the world market.
• Along with mass production, production by the masses is also very important for the development of our economy and this can be possible only through the cooperative model.
• The focus of the co-operative policy of government led by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is – free registration, computerization, democratic elections, active membership, professionalism in governance and leadership, transparency, responsibility and accountability.

11. Introduction of MSCS Bill, 2022

The Multi State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022 intends to amend the Multi State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002 with a view to strengthening governance, enhancing transparency, increasing accountability and reforming electoral process, etc.in the Multi State Cooperative Societies by incorporating the provisions of Ninety-seventh Constitutional Amendment and supplementing existing legislation. The Cabinet in its meeting on 12.10.2022 has approved the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment), Bill 2022. The bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on 07.12.2022 and subsequently the bill has been referred to Joint Parliamentary Committee on 20.12.2022.

MISCELLANOUS

13. The Union Minister for Home & Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah e-launched the on boarding of cooperatives on the Government e Marketplace (GeM) portal in New Delhi. ( 09th August 2022)

• Ministry of Cooperation is constantly working on 25 to 30 initiatives.
• The cooperative model allows people with limited capital to come together and work on a large scale
• An export house is being registered, for which the process will be completed by December, it will be a platform for export of products by cooperatives.
• The expansion that GeM has achieved is unimaginable, there are about 62,000 government buyers available on GeM and around 49 lakh sellers.
• More than 10,000 products and more than 288 services are listed, so far business worth Rs. 2.78 thousand crore has taken place and this is a huge achievement for GeM.

14. NAFCUB organized National Conclave of Scheduled & Multi State UCBs & Credit Societies – June 23, 2022, Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi

• National Conclave of Scheduled & Multistate Urban Cooperative Banks and Credit Societies was jointly organised by NAFCUB and Ministry of Cooperation at Vigyan Bhawan on 23rd June 2022. Speaking at the inaugural session, Shri Amit Shah Hon’ble Union Minister for Home and Cooperation said urban Cooperative Banks need to focus on symmetric development and adopt modern banking methods to stay in competition.
• He emphasised on the reforms in urban cooperative banks and asked them to make structural changes, computerise accounting processes and infuse young talent in the sector.
  During the period of 25 years between 75th and 100th anniversary of India’s Independence which is a period termed as Amrit Kal by Hon’ble Prime Minister, India should aim to achieve our goals of ensuring that our country’s economy is at the top of the world’s economies by achieving the milestones in all the sectors.
• Citing the successful journey of Amul, IFFCO, KRIBHCO, Lizat Papad and 100 years old Urban Cooperative Banks which are based on the Cooperative Model, the Minister said for all inclusive growth of the economy, this mission could be achieved with the expansion of the Cooperative sector.
  Shri B.L. Verma, Hon’ble Minister of State for Cooperation stated that looking into the large scope cooperatives can play in the development of the Indian economy, the Central Government has incorporated the new Ministry of Cooperation.
• To further strengthen Hon’ble Prime Minister vision of “Sahakar se Samriddhi”, with the “Ease of doing business”, “Ease of Living” and “Atmanirbhar Bharat” the Ministry of Cooperation has initiated various steps and is in the process of formulation of schemes for the development of the cooperatives.
• President, NAFCUB appealed to the Government to provide the financial support by way of equity for the Umbrella Organization in achieving the target of Rs.300 cr. as its share capital to get the license from RBI to start its functioning. Among other dignitaries, the conclave was attended by Dr. Bhagwat K. Karad, Hon’ble Minister of State for Finance, Shri Gyanesh Kumar, IAS, Secretary, Cooperation, Shri Vijay Kumar IAS, Additional Secretary and Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Sh. Dilipbhai Sanghani, President NCUI and Shri Satish Marathe, Director RBI were the Guest of Honour.
• There were three Business Sessions for Scheduled & MSUCBs and two parallel sessions for Multi State Credit Societies. In the Valedictory Session 198 Urban Cooperative Banks who have completed 100 years of their existence and running successfully were given awards by Union Minister of State for Finance Sh. Bhagwat Karad.

15. Ceremony conducted by NCUI on 100 International Day of Cooperatives (04.07.2022)

• 100th International Day of Cooperatives celebrations were held on 4th July 2002 at Vigyan Bhawan and was jointly organized by Ministry of Cooperation and NCUI. Hon’ble Minister for Home & Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah stressed on the need to modernize the cooperative sector with technology and professionalism to ensure future growth.
• He stated that the main aim of computerization of about 63,000 functional PACS is to make them both multipurpose and multi-dimensional in approach. He announced the establishment of Amul as the nodal Agency to provide authentic ‘organic’ certification for organic products. He further announced that Ministry of Cooperation will soon establish a National Cooperative
• University to popularize cooperative education in the country; and remarked that real essence of Atmanirbhar Bharat lies in the atmanirbharta (self-reliance) of 70 crore poor Indians, for which the cooperative sector need to work in full swing and ensure growth.
• Union Minister for Dairy, Fisheries and Animal Husbandry, Shri Parshottam Rupala, remarked that if all cooperatives develop the habit of savings, then they will never face the problem of generating funds. Union MoS for Cooperation, Shri BL Verma, stated that all stakeholders like cooperative societies, federations and organizations are collectively working towards formulating the effective cooperative laws thatis ‘all-inclusive’ and ‘all-pervasive’ in approach.
• In his narration on the key theme of the International Cooperative Day, “cooperatives build an atmanirbhar-bharat and a better world”, former Union Minister and veteran cooperator, Shri Suresh Prabhu stated that the world economies committed the mistake of not accepting cooperation as their growth model. He stressed that provision for cooperative self-help groups be made, and from ensuring accountability, transparency and global benchmarking in the cooperative model.
• NAFED Chairman, Bijendra Singh, remarked that about 40% PACS are defunct, and the cooperative sector is the best remedy for all related problems such as employment, price control and rural development.
• NCUI President, Dileep Sanghani, highlighted NCUI’s recent initiatives undertaken in alignment with the government’s ‘sahkar se samriddhi’ slogan, like NCUI Haat, Incubation Centre, Skill Development Centre, setting up Advisory Council & Youth Committee etc. NCUI’s CE, Dr. Sudhir Mahajan stated that the government initiatives like making provision for ₹900 crore in the Budget, formation of the Ministry of Cooperation, bringing reforms in cooperative legislation, sanctioning ₹2500 crore for computerization of PACS, etc., are historical decisions which will prove to be game changer in the long run for the cooperative sector.

16. National Conference of Agricultural & Rural Development Banks (ARDBs) 2022

• National Cooperative Agriculture & Rural development Banks’ Federation (NAFCARD) organized the National Conference of ARDBs 2022 on 16th July 2022 at NCUI Auditorium New Delhi to mark the culmination of Federation’s year long events at village ,District and State levels as part of Aazadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
• The National Conference was attended by about 1200 delegates consisting of Cooperators, leaders and officials representing the Long Term Cooperative Rural Credit Structure through out the country. The live streaming of the event was watched by more than 50000 members of ARDBs across the country.
• Hon’ble Union Minister of Home and Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah was the Chief Guest at the inaugural session which was attended by important dignitaries including Shri B L Verma
• Hon’ble MOS for Cooperation, Shri Dilip Sanghani President NCUI , Dr Chandrapal Singh Chairman KRIBHCO and President ICA AP , Shri Gyanesh Kumar Secretary Ministry of Cooperation, Shri Vijay Kumar Additional Secretary MOC and CRCS and Chairpersons/CEOs of various National Federations..
• Hon’ble Minister Shri Amit Shah in his inaugural address stressed on the importance of long term finance in agriculture in increasing productivity and production. Since we have already cultivated the entire land available for crop production, the only way to to ensure food security for the growing population is to increase productivity in terms of per ha production.
• Irrigation is crucial for achieving this. Govt in the last 8 years could increase percentage of farm lands under irrigation from less than 40% to more than 60 %. In other words an additional 20% of land was brought under irrigation in just 8 years as against 40% during 67 years before that since independence. However our goal is to bring the entire arable lands under irrigation and this requires huge investments by farmers in water and energy saving micro irrigation infrastructure.
• The rural credit system also needs to increase long term funding support to farmers to facilitate capital investments in agriculture. The total quantum of agricultural credit has grown at an impressive rate in the last 20 years from Rs 46,000 cr in 1999-2000 to about 16 lakh cr in 2020-21. However,this growth is not reflected in long term finance, which in fact has drastically declined from more than 50% to less than 20 % during ths period.
• He said that NABARD and NAFCARD should devise plans to reverse the declining trend in the share of long term finance and to raise it to more half of total agricultural credit as before.

17. National Conference of Rural Cooperative Banks held on 12 August 2022 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi

• Ministry of Cooperation and National Federation of State Cooperative Banks (NAFSCOB) organised one day National Conference for Rural Cooperative Banks on 12th August, 2022 at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.
• Shri Amit Shah, Hon’ble Minister of Home and Cooperation graced the conference as the Chief Guest and Shri. B. L. Varma, Hon’ble MoS for Cooperation and DoNER as guest of Honour. Cooperators, representatives of NABARD, NCUI, ICA-AP, SCBs, DCCBs, PACS and other dignitaries graced the occasion.
• Shri Amit Shah, Hon’ble Minister of Home and Cooperation stated that if we want even growth of cooperative movement in the country then there is need to discuss the plans for cooperative development.
• There are around 8.5 lakhs cooperatives, out of this credit and other societies are 1.78 lakhs. In the case of STCCS there are 34 SCBs with more than 2000 branches, 351 DCCBs with around 14,000 branches and around 95,000 PACS. All this scenario indicate us the well-structured agricultural credit system in India formed by our ancestors.
• PACS are the soul of our agricultural credit system and until PACS are working in good condition, the agricultural credit disbursement system will not function properly. There are 3 lakh Panchayat in the country but 2 lakh Panchayats have no PACS. Therefore, there is a need to make 5 years plan for forming new PACS by SCBs and DCCBs in each state.
• GoI has brought first scheme of computerization of PACS after the formation of Ministry of Cooperation. After completion of computerization of PACS, Prudential Norms will be applied to them, audit system will also be covered under accounting system and an alert system will also be activated. Computerization is the only solution/medicine for 100 types of deceases/problems of rural cooperative credit system.
• GoI has decided to prepare model byelaws of PACS to strengthen them. After implementation of bye-laws, PACS will not undertake credit disbursement alone, but they will be able to undertake other activities along with credit disbursement. For viability of PACS, new areas of business viz Gas distribution, water distribution, work as PCO, FPO and 22 other areas can be undertaken after implementation of Model Bye-laws.
• Hon’ble Minister also advised all Chairmen of SCBs and DCCBs to understand the importance of strengthening of PACS at grassroots level. If PACS are strengthened at grassroots level, then DCCBs at district level and SCBs at state level will automatically become strong.

18. National Conference on Role of Cooperatives in Agricultural Marketing

• A National Conference was organized by NAFED at Bhopal on 22nd August, 2022 on the “Role of Cooperatives in Agricultural Marketing”. Hon’ble Union Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah was the Chief Guest on the occasion. Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Hon’ble Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh were the Guests of Honour.
• The conference was also attended by senior level officials and dignitaries from Ministries of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Food Processing, State Agricultural Department, MDs of cooperative societies from all over the country, FPOs, CBBOs, member societies of NAFED also participated.
• The technical sessions held during the conference deliberated on the role and functions of primary and state/apex level cooperative marketing societies in procurement and marketing of farmers’ produce.
• Hon’ble. Union Minister for Home & Cooperation stressed upon the significant role that cooperatives have to play in bringing about prosperity in rural India and contribute to attainment of Hon’ble PM’s vision of “Sahkar se Samariddhi”.
• He informed that GoI is bringing a Model Act to strengthen PACS and that GoI has also opened GEM portal for cooperatives to purchase in a transparent manner. He launched six new ODOP products developed by NAFED under the aegis and guidance of Ministry of Food Processing Industries.
• Hon’ble CM applauded NAFED’s role in strengthening the Cooperative movement in the state and ensuring remunerative prices to Farmers of the state for their produce.
• Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare appreciated NAFED for the role it has played in implementation of Price Support Scheme, PM-ASHA scheme and PM-FME scheme by assisting in marketing of FPO products.
• Chairman NAFED, expressed his gratitude to the continued and unrelenting support provided by Govt. of India to NAFED over the years. He said that through its procurement operations, NAFED is supporting not only the farmers, but also the cooperative marketing societies across the country since the procurement is undertaken directly from the farmers involving the member societies at State and grass-root level.
• Govt. of India has initiated various schemes and programmes aimed at providing efficient market-linkages and other services for improving the income of farmers. The “One District One Product” scheme of MoFPI is one such scheme which benefit farmers in terms of procurement of inputs, availing common services and marketing of products.
• MD informed that NAFED in the last 8 years, has procured and handled around 146 lakh MT of Pulses and 61 lakh MT of oilseeds providing benefit of MSP to about 1.15 crore farmers.
• NAFED also procured 15,321 MT of Paddy valuing Rs. 2786 Crore and 5547 MT of Wheat valuing Rs. 1048 Crore benefitting lakhs of farmers during last 5 years under the de- centralized procurement scheme.
• The conference was a great success in generating awareness about the role being played by the marketing societies in the agri-sector and also how this sector can be further harnessed for the development of rural sector by increasing their scope of work.

19. Union Home and Cooperation Minister, Shri Amit Shah laid the foundation stone of Krishak Bharti Cooperative Limited (KRIBHCO) Hazira’s Bio-ethanol project and addressed the co-operative conference in Surat. (14th September 2022)

• KRIBHCO’s bio-ethanol project is a big leap in the direction of cooperative sector, environmental improvement, doubling of farmers’ income, increasing of India’s foreign exchange reserves and combating global warming challenges which are significant part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s multidimensional campaign.
• With this project, a bio-ethanol plant with a daily capacity of 2.5 lakh litres will be set up at Hazira, which will produce 8.25 crore litres of bio-fuel and will also provide a good market for 2.5 lakh metric tonnes of maize or alternative produce.
• Maize is main crop in about nine districts of Gujarat and apart from this maize can be grown in ten districts of the State and farmers can benefit through this plant.
• KRIBHCO’s bio-ethanol project will also provide raw material for high protein animal feed, fisheries and poultry, which will also benefit these sectors immensely.
• India already has achieved target of 10% blending set by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi before November, 2022, five months before the deadline and hence target of 20% ethanol blending by 2030 has been preponed to 2025.
• GST has been reduced from 18% to 5%, Government of India will pay 50% interest for a period of 5 years to those setting up ethanol plants under attractive interest subvention scheme.
• Many plants are being set up across the country and the production of ethanol is going to change the economy of the petroleum sector of the country in the coming days, which will also save about Rs. 1,00,000 crore in foreign exchange reserves.

20. NCDFI organized ‘Cooperative Dairy Conclave’ in association with Sikkim Milk Union on October 07, 2022 at Gangtok, Sikkim

• National Cooperative Dairy Federation of India Ltd (NCDFI) has organized the ‘Cooperative Dairy Conclave’ in association with Sikkim Cooperative Milk Producers Union Ltd. at Gangtok to further strengthen the cooperative ecosystem in the East and North-East Regions for the larger benefit of the local communities.
• Shri Amit Shah, Hon’ble Minister of Cooperation and Home Affairs, graced the occasion as the Chief Guest and delivered the keynote address. Hon’ble Minister appreciated the efforts of NCDFI and NDDB in strengthening dairying cooperative infrastructure in the region and other parts of the country.
• The function was also attended by Hon’ble CM of Sikkim, Shri Prem Singh Tamang and other Ministers, Hon’ble Chairman ITDC, Shri Sambit Patra Ji; Secretary, Ministry of Cooperation; Chief Secretary, Government of Sikkim; Chairman, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). Apart from that other senior officials from the Govt. of India and adjoining states attended the function. Dairy Farmer Leaders and MDs of the Cooperative Milk Unions and State Dairy Federations from the East and North-East Regions participated in the event. A total of around 1200 participants attended the programme.
• The prime emphasis of the Cooperative Conclave was to bring different stakeholders of the growing dairy cooperative ecosystem together to explore measures to further strengthen the dairy cooperative organisations. Accordingly, the Conclave is focused on the role of Dairy Cooperatives in developing Dairying in North-Eastern region of the country.
• Moreover, to appreciate the efforts of the dairy cooperative and further encourage them to actively participate in milk and milk product supplies to the Ministry of Defence, ITBP, etc., NCDFI Awards for best performing Dairy Cooperatives under the Institutional Sales category from East and North-East regions is also given on the sideline of the conclave.
• The Sikkim Milk Union won the 1st position, Purabi Dairy (West Assam Milk Producers’ Co-operative Union Ltd.) own 2nd position and Mother Dairy Culcatta won 3rd position in Defence supplies.

21. Clarification of clause (C) of Section 269ST of the IT Act, 1961 in respect of dealership/distributorship contract of Cooperative Societies-reg.

• Section 269ST states that the receipt of an amount of rupees two lakh or more is prohibited via modes other than an account payee cheque or an account payee bank draft or use of electronic clearing system through a bank account in respect of cooperative societies.
• Now, it has been clarified that receipt in cash by the Co-operative society on any day in the previous year, which is within “the prescribed limit of 2 lakh” and from one person or in single transaction may not be combined across multiple days for that previous year.
• Cooperatives will benefit from this clarification as their inability to deposit cash on any given day/days due to Bank closure will not result in penalizing them. The combined multiple days’ receipts/collections will not be fixed as a single day’s limit of Rs. Two lakh but will be Rs 2 lakh multiplied by the number of receipt days.

22. Union Home and Cooperation Minister Shri Amit Shah inaugurated Mega Dairy at Mandya, Karnataka (30th December 2022)

• The mega dairy inaugurated today at a cost of Rs. 260 crore will process 10 lakh liters of milk every day and it has the capacity to be increased upto 14 lakh liters per day, When 10 lakh liters of milk is processed, it ensures happiness of lakhs of farmers.
• The Government has decided that the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and Ministry of Cooperation will establish primary dairy in every panchayat of the country in the next three years, and the complete action plan in this regard has been prepared.
• Under the plan, two lakh primary dairies will be established at the village level across the country in three years, and India will emerge a big exporter in the milk sector by connecting the farmers of the country with the White Revolution.

23. Union Home and Cooperation Minister Shri Amit Shah addressed the Cooperative Beneficiaries Conference in Bengaluru, Karnataka (30th December 2022)

• By creating a separate Ministry of Cooperation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given new momentum and longevity to this movement.
• After becoming the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi made many farmer-centric schemes and worked to accelerate the same.
• Nearly 23 lakh farmers, mostly women, are paid Rs 28 crore per day under the Nandini brand in Karnataka which is making their life more prosperous.
• Out of 30 lakh cooperatives in the whole world, 9 lakh cooperatives are in India, about 91% of the villages of the country’s population are connected to the cooperative in one way or the other and through PACS the cooperative covers 70% of the farmers of the country.
• To bring transparency in cooperatives computerization of 63,000 PACS is being done across the country at a cost of Rs 2,500 crore.