Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah attended the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of the National Federation of State Co-operative Banks Limited (NAFSCOB) and a national meeting of Rural Cooperative Banks at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The event was graced by dignitaries including Union Ministers of State for Cooperation Krishan Pal and Muralidhar Mohol, alongside the Secretary of the Ministry of Cooperation. Several cooperative leaders including NAFSCOB President Ravindra Rao welcomed the Minister on the occasion.
In his address, Shah stated that the purpose of celebrating such milestones is twofold: to highlight the achievements of the institution over the last six decades and to learn from its shortcomings for future improvements. He emphasized the critical role played by the three-tier structure of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), district-level, and state-level cooperative banks in supporting India’s agriculture, farmers, and rural communities. He acknowledged the seamless disbursal of short-term agricultural loans to 13 crore farmers as instrumental in transforming the agricultural sector.
Amit Shah highlighted how cooperative banks at the district and state levels have extended their impact beyond financing short-term agricultural loans. These banks, along with PACS, have played an integral role in strengthening rural areas through initiatives in collective farming, water management, and material provisioning. He reiterated that cooperative development is not just about economic progress but also about ensuring equal growth for all segments of society, including farmers, Dalits, tribals, women, and rural populations.
Amit Shah credited visionaries Dr. Dhananjayrao Ramchandra Gadgil and Maganbhai Patel for establishing NAFSCOB in 1964, acknowledging the federation’s efforts in guiding district and state cooperative banks and maintaining reliable data. He reiterated the importance of equipping PACS with technology to ensure transparency and administrative efficiency. Shah encouraged youth involvement and a shift from traditional practices to align PACS with modern needs.
The minister urged cooperative institutions to adopt a problem-solving approach, where PACS address village-level issues, district cooperative banks tackle district-wide problems, and state cooperative banks focus on state-level challenges. He emphasized that maintaining the principles of participation, welfare, and equitable profit distribution is essential to earning public trust in the cooperative sector.
He shared that NAFSCOB oversees 34 state cooperative banks, 352 district cooperative banks, and over 1
He suggested increasing these deposits through initiatives like consolidating accounts of cooperative bodies within district cooperative banks, which would reduce costs and improve profitability. Shah cited Amul’s Rs 80,000 crore turnover as an example of cooperative success, encouraging district cooperative banks to replicate this model for their growth.
The minister noted the significant profits of state cooperative banks and district cooperative banks, which stand at Rs 2,400 crore and Rs 1,881 crore, respectively. He called for targeted growth in this area. He stressed the importance of strengthening PACS, as their vitality directly impacts the effectiveness of district cooperative banks. He praised the Modi government for initiating modernization steps to revitalize PACS and called on NAFSCOB to lead efforts in making them viable, transparent, and fully computerized.
Shah concluded by highlighting the need for sensitivity in cooperative leadership. He warned that without strong support from state and district cooperative banks, efforts by the Ministry of Cooperation would fall short of achieving the desired results.
