THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The National Policy on Cooperation may be announced this month. There is concern that the Center will also take over the cooperation sector of the states through the policy which comes for the first time after Union Home Minister Amit Shah took over the cooperation department.

The draft National Cooperation Policy was prepared by a committee headed by former Union Minister Suresh Prabhu. The aim is to strengthen the cooperative sector to accelerate economic growth and benefit all sections of the society. A National Cooperative Bank will be formed on the model of NABARD with a license from the Reserve Bank.

Provision will be made to fund 63,000 Primary Agricultural Credit Cooperative Societies (PACs). It will be implemented from 2024 onwards. The policy has proposed measures for 25 years of development ahead. National Cooperative University, Recruitment Board, Audit and Accounting Board, Multi State Cooperative Group for Exports and National Cooperative Tribunal are also part of the policy.

The Central Government has the power to form inter-state co-operative societies and make laws for them. Many proposals in the National Cooperation Policy are following this. Although the Supreme Court's ruling that cooperation is a state matter and the Center cannot interfere is comforting, the Union government may try to amend the existing Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act. The move is to form inter-state cooperatives through Farmers Producers Organization and Start Ups.

Information of primary cooperatives has been sought from the comprehensive cooperative database prepared for central cooperative credit schemes through NABARD and others. It is through cooperative registrars. This is a part of the central government's direct disbursement of central loan benefits transferred through NABARD for agriculture and infrastructure development projects. At present, the distribution of NABARD schemes is through the Reserve Bank. It will be the case that financial assistance will be available only on the basis of figures in the database. Kerala has not handed over the database due to concerns over the central government's move.