Dr. Ashish Kumar Bhutani, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Cooperation, lauded the PHDCCI for its efforts in advancing the cooperative movement. He was speaking as chief guest during the National Summit on Innovating Cooperative Models for the 21st Century organized by PHDCCI at New Delhi. The summit showcased 54 new initiatives from the Ministry of Cooperation (MoC).
Dr. Bhutani highlighted the ministry’s mission of ” “सहकार से समृद्धि” (Sahkar se Samriddhi or Prosperity through Cooperation), emphasizing its role in uplifting marginalized communities. He pointed to successful cooperative models like Amul and IFFCO as examples of how cooperatives can transform rural economies.
He further stated that with approximately 1,500 urban cooperative banks and 385 district and state cooperative banks, the ministry aims to harness technology to deliver the latest advancements at minimal costs. He explained National Cooperative Database, which includes data on around 800,000 cooperative societies, as a game-changer.
Dr. Bhutani also spoke about the transformation of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) into multimodal entities, which has enhanced their efficiency and transparency, enabling them to undertake previously unattainable tasks.
Pankaj Kumar Bansal, IAS, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Cooperation and Managing Director of the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), also praised PHDCCI’s dedication to promoting the cooperative sector. He stated that cooperatives should not be compared with profit-driven companies, as their primary purpose is to provide maximum benefits to their members. Achieving this goal signifies a cooperative’s success.
Vineet Nahata, Chair of the Task Force on Cooperatives at PHDCCI, identified the cooperative sector as a burgeoning industry. He emphasized that cooperatives are crucial for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in India. During the COVID-19 pandemic, while many corporations struggled, cooperatives thrived, showcasing their resilience. The establishment of a university dedicated to cooperatives was also commended for promoting good practices and standardizing cooperative principles.
The PHDCCI National Summit on Cooperatives underscored the importance of cooperative models in fostering economic growth and resilience, particularly for marginalized communities.
