Union Minister of State for Cooperation Shri Murlidhar Mohol today replied to the discussion on the Tribhuvan Sahkari University Bill, 2025 in the Rajya Sabha. After the discussion, the House passed the Bill. The Lok Sabha had passed this Bill on 26 March, 2025.

Replying to the discussion, Union Minister of State for Cooperation Shri Murlidhar Mohol said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has resolved to make India the third largest economy in the world by the year 2027, where rural economy will have an important contribution. He said that today more than 50 percent of the country's population is associated with the agriculture sector. There are about 8 lakh cooperatives in the country with over 30 crore members. Shri Mohol said that one person from every farmer family is associated with the cooperative sector.

Minister of State for Cooperation said that in 2013-14, a budget of Rs 122 crore was allocated for the Department of Cooperation, which has increased 10 times to Rs 1190 crore today. Earlier, the work related to cooperatives of the whole country was being handled by a joint secretary-level officer, but Prime Minister Modi ji established an independent Ministry of Cooperation for the welfare of farmers. He said that taking a visionary decision, PM Modi ji formed the Ministry of Cooperation for the development and expansion of cooperative societies like Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), Dairy, Sugar Mills, Cooperative Bank, Textile Mills across the country and strengthen the cooperative movement.

Shri Murlidhar Mohol said that it is a matter of pride for all of us that Shri Amit Shah ji became the first Minister of Cooperation of this country, who worked in the PACS and market committee of the village, as the President of the District Cooperative Bank, also as the Director of the State Cooperative Bank and who has made a great contribution and has vast experience in the cooperative sector.

Minister of State for Cooperation said that under the leadership of Shri Amit Shah, the Ministry of Cooperation took 60 new initiatives to give a new direction to the cooperative sector. These include the first step of strengthening the PACS. He said that PACS is the most important link in the cooperative sector, so the bye-laws of PACS were amended and PACS were made multipurpose and these bye-laws have been adopted by 32 states and union territories.

Shri Murlidhar Mohol said that today in the country, 43 thousand PACSs are running Common Service Centers, 36 thousand PACSs are running Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samridhi Kendra and 4 thousand PACSs are running Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Kendra. Many PACSs are also running petrol pumps. He said that only when PACSs will be economically strong, the farmer will be empowered and the villages will also become prosperous.

Minister of State for Cooperation said that to strengthen cooperative sector in the states, computerization of about 66 thousand PACS is being done by the Union Ministry of Cooperation, on which the Government of India is spending Rs 2516 crore. He said that the government is trying to make every village of the country prosperous through cooperation. For this, the Ministry has set a target of creating 2 lakh PACSs, out of which 14 thousand PACSs have already been created. Shri Mohol said that in the next five years, the number of PACSs in the country will increase to 3 lakh.

Shri Murlidhar Mohol said that while forming PACSs, we have kept in mind the social structure of the country and decided to give representation to all sections of the society including women in cooperatives. He said that under the new bye-laws, the government has made it mandatory to have members of SC, ST category and a woman member in the Board of Directors of PACS. Through this, we are working to provide social justice in the cooperative sector. Shri Mohol said that a National Cooperative Database has been created by taking all the states together. Now, information about all cooperatives can be obtained with one click.

Union Minister of State for Cooperation said that the National Cooperative Policy of the country is also being formulated under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi ji and guidance of Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah. It is our resolve to announce this policy in the next few days. He said that for the first time in 2023, under the leadership of Shri Amit Shah ji, three new cooperative societies – Bharatiya Beej Sahakari Samiti Limited (BBSSL), National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL) and National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL) – were established at the national level to provide facilities to the farmers of the country from seed to market. 34 thousand cooperative institutions have been made members by these three societies. This will increase the income of farmers.

Shri Murlidhar Mohol said that the Ministry of Cooperation has created the world's largest food storage scheme for farmers. The work of food storage scheme has started through PACSs. This will reduce transportation costs, protect the crop and farmers will get storage facilities at a place near them and they will also get financial benefits. He said that in 2013-14, only Rs 5300 crore was given to the cooperative institutions of the country through National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), which the Modi government increased to Rs 1 lakh 28 thousand crores. This year NCDC has given financial assistance of about Rs 10 thousand crore to the sugar mills of the country.

Union Minister of State for Cooperation said that an institutional system is necessary to bring dynamism in the cooperative sector and its expansion. The university has been established for this purpose. He said that many cooperatives have challenges like lack of efficiency, irregularities in management and limited use of technical resources, which affect their performance. Through this university, the scope and effectiveness of the cooperative sector will definitely increase, which will also create new opportunities for self-employment and innovation.

Shri Murlidhar Mohol said that today there is a need for proper training for efficiency and discipline at all levels, from the secretary of PACS to the MD of Apex Bank. According to an estimate, the cooperative sector will need about 17 lakh trained youth in the next five years. In view of this need, the initiative to establish a university has been taken. He said that at present the system of teaching and training in the cooperative sector is not adequate and it is also scattered. Keeping this in mind, under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and the guidance of Home and Cooperative Minister Shri Amit Shah, it was decided to establish Tribhuvan Sahkari University. This university will fulfill the need of trained human resources in the cooperative sector and develop cooperative spirit in the youth of the country and inspire them to make a career in this field.

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