Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Monday set the goal to have an urban cooperative bank in every town with a population of over 2 lakh persons in the next five years.
He emphasized that urban cooperative banks are becoming a medium for providing support to small traders, the middle class, small businesses, and vulnerable sections, offering them self-employment opportunities.
Shah said that it is not an easy task, but with combined efforts and determination by the cooperative sector and by slowly removing all the hindrances, the goal can be achieved. However, the umbrella organization, like NAFCUB and the sector will have to move ahead and work with a lot of determination.
Shah on Monday addressed an international conference on the urban cooperative credit sector, where he mentioned about the ongoing efforts in the country to empower and expand the cooperative sector and the cooperative credit societies, adding that the RBI has also played a role in their reforms.
Highlighting a significant improvement when it comes to the cooperative sector, the minister said that during the past two years, the NPA (non-performing assets) have shown a decline, coming down from 2.8 per cent to now just 0.6 per cent.
Shah also shared the launch of two mobile applications – Sahakar Digi Pay and Sahakar Digi Loan, designed for the urban cooperative banks.
The minister has said that the adoption of digital payments is something important in present times for survival, when the cashless economy is on the rise.
He also shared that the centre made model bylaws for Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) and the same have been adopted by all the states across the country, which has reduced the chances of them becoming non-operational.
Shah also mentioned about the progress made by the cooperatives like the Amul and IFFCO, and lauded them for being ranked the world’s top two cooperatives by the International Cooperative Alliance.
The two-day conference is being jointly organised by the NAFCUB and the Ministry of Cooperation, aimed to empower and expand the horizon for the cooperatives and also bring forward ideas for digital reforms in the domain.