Women led Cooperatives

Women led Cooperatives

The Government recognizes cooperative societies as an important instrument for inclusive and participatory economic development especially in economically weaker areas. With the establishment of a separate Ministry of Cooperation, Government aims to strengthen the cooperative movement with a special focus on farmers, women and rural development. Key initiatives to promote women-led cooperatives and cooperatives linked with Self Help Groups (SHGs) include the following:

The Government is encouraging the formation and strengthening of women-led cooperative societies across sectors such as dairy, agriculture, handicrafts and rural enterprises. Capacity building, training and financial assistance is being facilitated through various institutions and schemes in convergence with other Ministries.

To strengthen the dairy sector and promote women’s participation, the Government is actively encouraging the formation of 75,000 new dairy cooperative societies besides strengthening of 46,422 existing dairy cooperative societies. Dairy cooperatives play a significant role in women’s economic empowerment, employment generation and rural livelihood enhancement.

National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) a statutory organization working under administrative control of Ministry of Cooperation while aligning itself with mandate of cooperative led economic development implements various schemes to support women-led and SHG-linked cooperatives viz:

This information was given by Union Minister for Home and Cooperation Shri Amit Shah in a written reply in Lok Sabha.