In his inaugural speech on the occasion of the 68th All India Cooperative Week, B.L. Verma, Union Minister of State for Cooperation dropped hints that co-operatives would no longer be treated in a partisan manner. He reminded the audience of the can-do ”personality” of his boss Union Minister Amit Shah and said things would be set right.
Verma was responding to NCUI President Dileep Sanghani’s complaint about co-op banks having no provisions of subsidy in cases where a village lad comes to them to seek a loan for foreign education. Foreign, private or PSU banks can disburse such loans but co-op banks cannot, ” said Sanghani offering to enumerate many cases of disparity vis a vis private banks.
Revealing new initiatives taken under the leadership of Amit Shah, Verma said that the issues plaguing co-operatives’ taxations, dividends, remittances, etc have been examined by Shah personally. “Based on the feedback received from you all, co-op secretary shortlisted nine issues or demands of the sector which were examined by Shah and later resolved by him one by one”, said Verma.
Though Verma did not elaborate what those nine points were, he said Shah contacted Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as well as the RBI Governor on these issues.
“I will not say much but just let me assure you that the decisions, yet to be announced, are in our favour”, said Verma to the great relief of co-operators sitting in the NCUI auditorium on the occasion of Coop Week on Monday.
Verma also touched upon many issues and one of which was cleanliness at co-op offices. “I have seen many PACS offices and I must say I am not happy”, said Verma adding how at the behest of PM Narendra Modi, various ministries of the union govt have got rid of rubbish in the month of October. “From various Bhavans, trash worth Rs 62.5 crore was sold”, he stated.
Verma also underlined the huge reach of cooperatives across states. “When IFFCO people told us that about 4-5 crore people would be connected during Amitbhai Shah’s mega co-op show, I thought it was an exaggeration. But as Shah rose to speak, more than 8 crore people were connected, said Verma, failing to hide his disbelief.
Verma said the government is committed to the digitalization of Primary Agriculture Cooperatives in the wake of an ambitious target of setting up 3 lakh PACs in the next five years. He said that through software, primary agriculture cooperative societies would be linked with DCCBs, and State Cooperative Banks, in which the role of NABARD would be vital.
He highlighted the good work of cooperative organizations like– IFFCO, AMUL, Lijjat Papad, etc. He further said that considering the problems voiced by many cooperative organizations regarding increasing RBI interference and control in the functioning of cooperative banks, he said that the government in consultation with RBI and other institutions will come up with decisions favouring cooperatives soon.
Dileep Sanghani, President, NCUI speaking on the occasion said that the decision of the government to bring in a new National Policy on Cooperatives is very important for the autonomous and professional functioning of cooperatives. He said that the new Ministry of Cooperation should ensure that the government does not neglect cooperatives in planning and budget formulation.
