New Delhi: Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Thursday stressed on strengthening cooperative banks through sustainable business models, along with modern banking technologies and robust cyber security frameworks.
According to an official statement, Shah chaired a series of review meetings on initiatives taken by the government to strengthen the cooperative banking ecosystem, promote organic products through cooperatives and boost exports of cooperative products.
The meetings were attended by Minister of State for Cooperation Krishan Pal Gurjar and Cooperation Secretary Ashish Kumar Bhutani.
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Senior officers of the ministry and representatives of institutions, including the proposed Cooperative Bank of India (COBI), Sahakar Sarathi Pvt Limited (SSPL), National Urban Cooperative Finance and Development Corporation (NUCFDC), National Cooperative Organics Ltd (NCOL) and National Cooperative Exports Ltd (NCEL), also attended the meetings.
While reviewing, Shah took stock of the progress of steps taken to strengthen the cooperative banking sector through technology adoption, improved governance, cyber security, digital payments, common service platforms and enhanced service delivery.
"Shah emphasised the need to strengthen cooperation among sectoral institutions and increase the participation of cooperative banks in common service platforms," the statement said.
He highlighted the "importance of robust cyber security frameworks, modern banking technology and sustainable business models for the cooperative banking sector".
Detailed discussions were held on the proposed Cooperative Bank of India and its role in the coming years.
The progress of Sahakar Sarathi's technology-driven initiatives for cooperative banks was also reviewed.
The meetings noted the encouraging response being received from cooperative banks towards common digital platforms and shared services.
Particular emphasis was laid on the wider adoption of indigenous technology solutions and the strengthening of digital infrastructure across urban and rural cooperative banks.
The progress of Bank.in, a dedicated banking domain initiative for cooperative banks, was reviewed.
Ongoing efforts for wider deployment of technology-enabled services and digital solutions across the cooperative banking sector were also discussed.
The meetings also took note of work being undertaken for the Integration of MuleHunter.AI with the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) to further strengthen fraud risk management and cyber security capabilities within cooperative banks.
This initiative is expected to enhance the preparedness of cooperative banks against emerging digital threats, the statement added.
During the meeting, it was highlighted that the NUCFDC, the Umbrella Organisation for Urban Cooperative Banks, is actively working to bring all such banks on a common platform and expand its membership base to cover the entire UCB sector.
This will facilitate greater access to shared services, technology solutions and institutional support for Urban Cooperative Banks.
Shah emphasised that all Rural Cooperative Banks should become members of Sahakar Sarathi Pvt Ltd, and all Urban Cooperative Banks should become members of NUCFDC. They should also avail services from these institutions.
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He also underlined the important role of COBI, SSPL and NUCFDC in strengthening the cooperative banking sector in the coming days.
Separately, Shah reviewed the activities and future roadmap of the NCOL and the NCEL.
The review focused on membership expansion, engagement with member cooperatives and producers, procurement and marketing of organic produce, strengthening of the national cooperative organic and export ecosystems, assessment of market opportunities and future growth strategies.
Shah also reviewed plans for expansion through central government agencies, strengthening presence across physical and digital marketplaces, promotion and rollout of the Co-op Mark and expansion into global markets.
During the meeting, it was emphasised that NCOL should scale up its procurement operations to source organic produce from a larger number of organic farmers across the country.
NCOL should identify and map organic producers and products and support farmers throughout the organic value chain by facilitating testing, certification, quality assurance, capacity building and compliance with organic standards.
NCOL was asked to provide strong market linkages for organic produce so that farmers are able to access remunerative markets.
The review of NCEL focused on expanding market linkages in international markets for cooperative products with strong global competitiveness.
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