PM launches portals of e-commerce website for cooperatives:
Under the Digital India initiative, the government has prioritized transparency and ensured that beneficiaries receive their entitled benefits. Speaking at the 17th Indian Cooperative Congress held in New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan on the International Day of Cooperatives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized the need for the cooperative sector to serve as a model of transparent and corruption-free governance. “For this, digital systems should be promoted in the cooperative sector,” he said.
The event, centered around the theme ‘Amrit Kaal: Prosperity through Cooperation for a Vibrant India,’ witnessed the Prime Minister launching e-commerce portals for cooperative marketing, as well as a portal for cooperative extension and advisory services.
As India is known in the world for its digital transactions, Modi urged the cooperative societies and banks to stay ahead when it comes to digital transactions. It will increase transparency and efficiency in the market while also enabling better competition. Computerization of more than 60,000 PACS is taking place. He stressed that cooperatives should make full use of the technology available to them and mentioned that the nation will hugely benefit from the acceptance of core banking and digital transactions by cooperative societies. Their tax burden has been reduced. The government is working on the target of creating 2 lakh new multipurpose societies across the country. With this, the power of co-operatives will reach even those villages and panchayats where this system is not functional.
The PM underlined that cooperatives have become a huge support system for small farmers in many parts of the country. The cooperatives are being presented with a platform exactly like the corporate sector for the first time. He also informed about the measures to strengthen cooperative societies and cooperative banks and gave examples of flexibility in opening new branches and doorstep banking.
He said, now crores of farmers are getting Kisan Samman Nidhi directly in their accounts. In the last 4 years 2.5 lakh crore rupees have been transferred under this scheme in a transparent manner. “On average, the Government is spending more than 6.5 lakh crores yearly on agriculture and farmers”, Modi said. “The government is making sure that every farmer in the country receives around 50 thousand rupees every year in some way or the other”, he asserted. During the Amrit Kaal, the role of the cooperative sector in the growth of villages and farmers is going to be big. “Sarkar and Sahkaar (Government and cooperative) will together provide double strength to the dream of the Viksit Bharat”.
Union Minister for Home Affairs and Cooperation, Amit Shah, Union Minister of State for Cooperation, B L Verma, Chairman of International Cooperative Alliance for Asia Pacific, Dr Chandrapal Singh Yadav, and President of National Cooperative Union of India, Dilip Sanghani were present on the occasion among others.
