Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah will inaugurate 10,000 newly established multipurpose Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS), along with dairy and fisheries cooperative societies, on Wednesday.
This milestone event comes nearly nine months after Shah unveiled the National Cooperative Database in March, a transformative initiative designed to compile essential data on India’s vast cooperative sector. At the launch, Shah emphasized that the database, spearheaded by the Ministry of Cooperation to realize Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of “Sahakar se Samriddhi would serve as a catalyst for advancing the cooperative movement. The ministry underscored the critical need for a comprehensive database to efficiently document and analyze information about cooperatives across the country.
The launch of the National Cooperative Database (NCD) marked a significant milestone for the cooperative sector. The growth of cooperatives in rural areas holds the potential to address economic, social, and community challenges, empower individuals, reduce poverty, and contribute to the overall well-being of rural communities.
The database’s development involved phased data collection from various stakeholders. In the first phase, approximately 2.64 lakh primary cooperative societies in three sectors—Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS), Dairy, and Fisheries—were mapped.
In the second phase, data from National Federations, State Federations, State Cooperative Banks (StCB), District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs), Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs), State Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks (SCARDB), Primary Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks (PCARDB), Sugar Cooperative Mills, District Unions, and Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) were collected and mapped.
In the third phase, data from over 5.3 lakh primary cooperative societies across remaining sectors were mapped through state and UT RCS and DRCS offices.
The National Cooperative Database is a web-based digital dashboard that records data on cooperative societies, including national and state federations. State and UT nodal officials at RCS and DRCS offices validated the data of cooperative societies, while federations provided their data directly.
The database has successfully collected and mapped information on around eight lakh cooperatives, representing a collective membership of more than 29 crore people across various sectors. It includes parameters such as the registered name, registration date, location, membership size, sectoral details, operational areas, economic activities, financial statements, and audit status of cooperatives.
This comprehensive database serves as a crucial tool for efficient communication between the central ministry, states, UTs, and cooperative societies, benefiting all stakeholders. It provides detailed contact information for registered societies, streamlining communication between government bodies and cooperatives.
The National Cooperative Database offers numerous advantages, such as single-point access to comprehensive and updated data, a user-friendly interface, vertical and horizontal linkages, query-based reports and graphs, Management Information System (MIS) reports, data analytics, and geographical mapping.
The success of this initiative hinges on effective collaboration, accurate data collection, and strategic use of the database to identify sectoral gaps and make informed decisions to address them. Ultimately, the database promotes transparency and collaboration within the cooperative sector.