New Delhi, Apr 8 (PTI) Union Cooperative Minister Amit Shah will inaugurate a two-day national conference on the proposed new cooperative policy to be held on April 12-13 here.

The new policy, which aims to widen the reach of cooperatives to the grassroots and strengthen the cooperative sector, is likely to be finalised by the end of the current fiscal.

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"The cooperative ministry has received 54 comments on the proposed policy from various stakeholders. The first round of discussion will be held with state governments during the conference next week," a senior ministry official said.

The ministry is going to organise a series of such conferences with different stakeholders, this being the first. In the second phase, the government will hold discussions with cooperative federations and unions, an official statement said.

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"These efforts will culminate in formulation of a new robust national cooperative policy giving impetus to strengthen cooperative based economic model in the country to realise the mantra of Sahkar Se Samaridhi," the statement added.

Minister of State for Cooperation B L Varma, representatives from 26 states, central ministries and national cooperative bodies will be present at the event to be organised at DRDO Bhawan.

According to the ministry, the conference will deliberate on six broad themes: present legal framework, regulatory policy, operational barriers and measures required for their removal; reforms for strengthening governance; strengthening of infrastructure and technology; training and education besides promoting new cooperatives as well as social cooperatives.

The new Ministry of Cooperation was created in July 2021 to strengthen the cooperative movement in the country.

Digitation of Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACs), creation of a national database of cooperative societies, a scheme for cooperative education and training are amongst many such initiatives taken by the ministry to deepen and strengthen the cooperative movement in the country.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)