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Union Home and Cooperation Minister, Amit Shah announced the constitution of a National level committee for drafting of the National Cooperative Policy, formulated to realise the vision of ‘Sahakar Se Samriddhi ‘ under the leadership of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.

The National Level Committee, under the Chairmanship of former Union Cabinet Minister, Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, consists of 47 members from across the country. The Committee comprises experts of the cooperative sector; representatives of National / State / District & Primary Cooperative Societies; Secretaries (Cooperation) & Registrars of Cooperative Societies of States / UTs; and Officers from Central Ministries / Departments.

The existing National Policy on Cooperatives was formulated in 2002 with the objective of facilitating all round development of cooperatives and providing necessary support, encouragement and assistance to them, so as to ensure that cooperatives work as autonomous, self-reliant and democratically managed institutions accountable to their members and make a significant contribution to the national economy. Today, India has around 8.5 lakh co-operative societies with a member base of around 29 crore, spread across the length and breadth of the country.

The new National Cooperation Policy document is being formulated with a view to fulfilling the mandate given to the new Ministry of Cooperation, including strengthening cooperative movement in the country and deepening its reach up to the grassroots; promoting cooperative-based economic development model; creating an appropriate policy, legal and institutional framework to help cooperatives realise their potential.