Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated webinar on 'Smart Agriculture' for Agriculture and Allied Sectors to create awareness and sense of ownership among stakeholders on the Budget

• Integrity Education, Delhi
• 25, Feb 2022

In order to give proper impetus to the cooperative sector under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the Union Government had created the Ministry of Cooperation in July 2021. Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah was given the charge of the newly formed Ministry of Cooperation. After its formation, this ministry is working on drafting a new cooperative policy and schemes, making continuous progress under the able leadership of Shri Amit Shah.

In this context, in order to create awareness and a sense of ownership among the stakeholders on the budget, the Union Government organized a webinar on the topic 'Smart Agriculture' for Agriculture and Allied Sectors today. The Ministry of Cooperation also participated in the webinar on the topic 'Prosperity through Co-operation'. Prime Minister Shri NarendraModi inaugurated the webinar. In his address, Prime Minister Shri NarendraModi said that the government has created a new Ministry of Cooperation, whose objective is to transform cooperative societies into a successful commercial enterprise.

Under the guidance of the Union Home and Cooperation Minister, Shri Amit Shah, the Ministry of Cooperation is in the process of bringing a new cooperative policy as well as many new schemes, which will incorporate various suggestions given by stakeholders.

The webinar of the Ministry of Cooperation was presided over by the Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Shri ParshottamRupala, in which the Union Minister of State for Cooperation, Shri B.L. Verma also participated. Animal Husbandry and Dairy Secretary Shri AtulChaturvedi, Cooperation Secretary Shri Devendra Kumar Singh and other senior officers were also present. Representatives of various organizations related to the field of cooperatives like AMUL, NCUI, NAFCUB, IRMA, VAMNICOM etc. and state governments actively participated, participated in the webinar.

Various provisions of Budget 2022-23 and major points related to cooperatives were discussed, at the webinar, which are as follows:

• Proposal for budget allocation of Rs. 900 crore for the newly created ministry.

• Announcement to reduce the Minimum Alternate Tax on Co-operative Societies from 18.5 percent to 15 percent.

• Announcement to reduce surcharge on cooperatives with income between Rs. 1crore to 10 crore on the lines of FPO from 12 percent to 7 percent.

• Proposal of the significant sum of Rs. 350 crore for digitization of primary agricultural cooperatives.

• Rs. 274 crore proposal for the year 2022-23 for "Prosperity through Cooperation”.

The following major topics related to the Ministry of Cooperation were also discussed during the webinar:

A. Digitization of Primary Agricultural Credit Co-operative Societies

B. Scheme for creation of National Database of Co-operative Societies

C. Cooperative Education and Training Scheme

D. Co-operative Credit Guarantee Fund

E. Cooperative to Prosperity Scheme

f. National Co-Operation Policy

During the webinar many important suggestions were given by various organizations and state governments, such as formulation of user-oriented database sharing and accessibility policy, establishment of VAMNICOM, Pune as an autonomous institution of national importance, for facilitating credit flow at the grassroots level. Creation of Co-operative Credit Guarantee Trust, strengthening of branding, marketing in the cooperative sector, ensuring product diversity and harnessing modern technology and innovation by start-ups.

Through this one-day webinar, it was highlighted that cooperatives are the backbone of the socio-economic framework of the country and it is the only model that brings about inclusive growth.

Sources : PIB