National Cooperation Policy 2025

Union Home and Cooperation Minister Shri Amit Shah unveiled the National Cooperation Policy 2025 in New Delhi.

Unveiling of the National Cooperation Policy 2025 and its Vision for ‘Sahkar Se Samriddhi’

1. Background and Evolution of Cooperation Policy

• The first National Cooperation Policy was introduced in 2002 under the leadership of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
• In 2021, the Ministry of Cooperation was established under the Modi government to revamp and strengthen the cooperative ecosystem.
• A 40-member high-level committee, led by Shri Suresh Prabhu, formulated the 2025 policy after extensive consultations with over 750 stakeholders, RBI, and NABARD.

2. Vision, Mission, and Objectives

Vision:

• “To achieve Viksit Bharat @2047 through Sahkar Se Samriddhi (Prosperity through Cooperation).”

Mission:

• To build a network of professional, transparent, self-reliant, and digitally-enabled cooperative institutions across rural and urban India.

Key Objectives:

• Triple the contribution of the cooperative sector to GDP by 2034.
• Ensure one cooperative unit per Panchayat (PACS, Dairy, Fisheries, etc.).
• Target inclusion of 50 crore people into the cooperative movement.
• Increase total number of cooperative societies by 30% (from 8.3 lakh existing).

3. Structural Pillars of the Policy

• Strengthening Institutional Foundations:
• Legal and regulatory reforms, model by-laws, capacity building, and credit access.
• Enhancing Inclusivity & Expanding Reach:
• Focus on Dalits, tribals, women, and youth participation.
• Five Model Cooperative Villages per tehsil.
• Technology & Transparency:
  • Digitalization of PACS.
  • Cluster-based management & monitoring system.
• Diversification into Emerging Sectors:
  • Cooperative participation in green energy, insurance, taxi services, etc.
  • Launch of ‘Sahkar Taxi’ initiative and PM Jan Aushadhi Kendras via PACS.
• Global Outreach:
  • Establishment of National Cooperative Export Limited (NCEL) for accessing international markets.
• Capacity Building:
  • Launch of Tribhuvan Sahkari University for cooperative education and skilling.

4. Socio-Economic Impacts Envisaged

• Strengthening grassroots democracy through member-centric governance.
• Integration of rural poor, women SHGs, and MSMEs into formal economy.
• Facilitating employment generation, credit delivery, and last-mile service delivery.
• Promoting environmental sustainability and local entrepreneurship.

6. Challenges in Implementation

• State-level capacity to implement policy uniformly.
• Political interference and bureaucratic inertia.
• Trust deficit in existing cooperatives in certain regions.
• Integration of traditional cooperatives with new-age tech-enabled operations.

Way Forward

• Capacity Building: Train over 50 lakh cooperative workers and managers in next 5 years.
• Institutional Strengthening: Encourage audits, transparency, and accountability mechanisms.
• Legal Reforms: Uniform cooperative legislation across states to avoid federal discrepancies.
• Monitoring & Evaluation: Strong M&E framework linked to KPIs for cooperative performance.