A cabinet meeting, chaired by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, on Wednesday, approved the Cooperative Policy 2023 with an aim to strengthen the cooperative movement in the state.
While hailing the decision of the cabinet, State Cooperative Minister Arvind Singh Bhadoria tweeted, “Madhya Pradesh is becoming prosperous through cooperatives. The important decision was taken at the cabinet meeting. Cooperative Policy 2023 got approved”.
“MP has become the first state to have implemented cooperative policy. With this decision of Honorable Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the state will impart a new dimension to development. I express my gratitude to the Honorable Chief Minister on behalf of the people of the state”, Bhadoria tweet reads.
The MP Cooperative Policy 2023, of which the Indian Cooperative has a copy, reads, “Co-ops are playing an important role not only in the economic development of the state but also in generating employment opportunities. The goal of making MP “Self-reliant” can be fulfilled by making the cooperative movement a mass movement in the state”.
“There is an urgent need for a cooperative policy to make cooperatives strong and self-reliant with the mantra of “Sahakar Se Samriddhi” through which effective measures can be taken for economic self-reliance, employment generation in urban and rural areas”, it further reads.
The objective of the policy is to promote cooperative values and principles in the working of cooperative societies. It further aims to promote cooperatives in non-traditional areas by recognizing the key role of cooperatives in economic development (especially in rural areas).
The Madhya Pradesh co-operative policy 2023 puts emphasis on preparing and implementing the Public Co-operative Partnership (PCP) model in the cooperative sector.
Besides, Simplifying the process of registration and renewal of cooperative societies. In order to ensure the ease of doing business and promoting transparency in the functioning of cooperatives, a better Information System (MIS) / Cooperative Database will be developed, the cooperative policy underlined.
It further said, In order to incorporate the principles of corporate governance in the cooperative institutions of the state without compromising on the spirit of cooperation, an eCSMP (e-Cooperative Societies Management System) for all cooperative institutions on the lines of MCA-21, will be developed.
In order to strengthen the cooperative education system, the ‘State Cooperative Education and Training Fund’ will be established under the aegis of State Cooperative Federation. Besides, attracting the youth with co-ops, the basic knowledge of cooperatives should be included in the curriculum in the educational institutions of the state, according to the co-op policy 2023.
The co-ops policy also emphasizes on developing Primary Agricultural Credit Cooperative Societies (PACS) as “Common Facility Centers” for providing agricultural inputs, credit, marketing, information technology and other services in rural areas.
As far as co-op credit institutions are concerned, the policy focused on promoting the use of information technology in urban credit co-operative institutions and to take necessary measures for the protection of the depositors’ money of Nagarik Cooperative Banks.
For cooperative housing, the complete data of housing cooperative societies will be made available on the portal for the general public. A suitable and strong action will be taken to curb the irregularities prevailing in co-operative housing societies.
For Cooperative Seed Production and Marketing, suitable measures will be taken to reactivate the non-functional seed producer cooperative. Besides, providing a single brand for the production and marketing of quality seeds by associating the State Cooperative Seed Federation with the Multi-State Cooperative Seed Society.
The continuous review and supervision of the implementation and achievements of the policy will be done every three months according to the Cooperative Minister or Chief Secretary of the State.
It is to be mentioned here that the National Cooperative Policy committee, constituted by the Union Ministry of Cooperation is preparing the draft and is in its final stage. It will be submitted in July.
