By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, April 11: Secretary of the Ministry of Cooperation, Dr. Ashish Kumar Bhutani, has said the ministry is committed to promoting cooperative-led economic growth with strong inter-state cooperation, in alignment with the vision of ‘Sahakar Se Samriddhi’.
Bhutani was addressing the inaugural session of the two-day National Level Review Meeting held in Shillong on Friday.
The two-day review meeting is focused on advancing strategies and initiatives to modernise and strengthen the cooperative sector across the country.
In his address, Bhutani highlighted the importance of collating PAN numbers of all cooperative societies in India to ensure accurate representation of the sector’s contribution to the national GDP.
Reiterating the government’s dedication to enhancing the cooperative ecosystem, he noted the ministry’s flagship initiative—White Revolution 2.0—which aims to uplift rural communities through the dairy sector. Informing that the dairy industry stands as a powerful example of women empowerment and child nutrition, Bhutani said the ministry is collaborating with institutions such as Amul and the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) to support states including Assam, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh in expanding dairy infrastructure.
It may be mentioned that the meeting has brought together stakeholders from states and union territories, officials from cooperative federations, financial institutions and policymakers, creating a collaborative platform for knowledge sharing and strategic coordination.
Key areas of focus during the two-day event include expanding banking services to cooperative societies, delivering doorstep banking through micro-ATMs and offering zero-interest loans via RuPay Kisan Credit Cards to members of Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS), Dairy Cooperative Societies and other cooperative bodies, and strengthening rural cooperative banking.