New Delhi, Nov 26 (Agency) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the government is working towards making India a developed country by bringing together governance with cooperativism.Inaugurating the ICA Global Cooperative Conference 2024 at Bharat Mandapam here, the Prime Minister said “Our government has implemented several reforms to enhance the cooperative banking system, including bringing them under the purview of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and increasing deposit insurance coverage to Rs 5 lakh per depositor,”Modi also noted that the reforms have helped position Indian cooperative banks as more secure and efficient financial institutions.“Today, India has 8 lakh co-operative committees, meaning that the world’s every fourth committee is in India,” he said, adding that their range is as diverse and wide as their numbers.
Underlining that co-operatives cover almost 98 percent of rural India, he said about 30 crore people, in other words, one out of every five Indians is associated with the cooperative sector.Highlighting a significant stride made in strengthening India’s cooperative banking sector, Modi said that over Rs 12 lakh crore is now deposited in cooperative banks across the country, reflecting the growing trust in these institutions.“India sees a huge role of cooperatives in its future growth”, said the Prime Minister. Therefore, he added, that in the past years, the government had worked to transform the entire ecosystem related to cooperatives through multiple reforms.
The ICA Global Cooperative Conference and ICA General Assembly is being organised in India for the first time in 130 years.The Global Conference, hosted by Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), in collaboration with ICA and Government of India, and Indian Cooperatives AMUL and KRIBHCO will be held from November 25 to 30.The theme of the conference, “Cooperatives Build Prosperity for All,” aligns with the Indian government’s vision of “Sahkar Se Samriddhi”.During the event, the Prime Minister also launched a commemorative postal stamp, symbolising India’s commitment to the cooperative movement.