CM Fadnavis to boost cooperatives with startups

Mumbai: With an aim to help the ailing co-operatives to start new businesses, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and five other cabinet ministers would guide the societies. He has set up a committee to fund 5,000 cooperatives which can start new businesses. The new scheme has been named after former prime minister AB Vajpayee as ‘Atal Mahaaphan Vikas Abhiyan’.

The registration of the Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies called PACS, which opt for non-banking businesses, will be carried out on a Public, Cooperative Private Partnership (PCPP) basis under the Atal Mahaaphan Vikas Abhiyan. The scheme is expected to boost non-banking businesses across the state.

An official from the finance department said that the scheme was launched as a part of the Union finance ministry’s goal of doubling the farmers’ income by 2022. “The cooperative sector in Maharashtra is facing a huge crisis, and it lacks funding. The government wants to help the ailing sector to not only survive but also grow. The sector is the backbone of the rural area, and many farmers depend on it. The new scheme will strengthen the sector, fund the businesses and encourage the people who want to expand the sector,” the official said.

The state would be roping in women self-help groups and farmers for the initiative that will help them with employment and in generating income in rural areas.

The chief minister has taken a keen interest in the scheme that can provide a boost to the rural population. The cooperative department has received a few applications to start businesses under the scheme.