In a groundbreaking move towards digitisation, Union Home and Cooperative Minister Amit Shah is all set to inaugurate the National Cooperative Database Portal, a pioneering centralised e-platform on Friday here.
This platform, a global first, is designed to streamline the management and dissemination of data related to over 8.5 lakh cooperative societies. The Minister will also unveil the National Cooperative Database 2023 Report, providing insights into the sector”s progress and achievements on the occasion.
The creation of this repository, National Cooperative Database, addresses a longstanding need, as India despite being home to over 8.5 lakh cooperative societies having over 25% of the global total lacked a mechanism to track their activities, financial details, and membership numbers.
The portal will capture data on various parameters such as location, number of members, economic activities, and linkages, facilitating stakeholders including Central Ministries, State Governments, Cooperative Federations, and Sectoral Institutions like NABARD in planning, policy-making, and implementation to bolster the cooperative movement.
Moreover, the database will also help in identifying gaps in the geographical spread of cooperatives. A senior official from the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) which will play a key role in handling the portal being the central institution providing financial services to the sector emphasized the platform”s significance. He said, “It will not only map all cooperative societies and their ecosystems nationwide but also serve as a powerful tool to bridge geographical gaps and identify untapped areas and sectors ripe for cooperative expansion.”
The data of cooperatives was collected on the National Cooperative Database in a phased manner from the various stakeholders such as Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS), Dairy and Fisheries, National Federations, State Federations, State cooperative banks (StCB), District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs), Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs), State Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank (SCARDB), Primary Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank (PCARDB), Sugar Cooperative Mills, District Unions and Multi State Cooperative Societies (MSCS).More than 5.3 lakh primary cooperative societies has also been mapped from all the remaining other sectors.