VINOD BHAT
NEW DELHI, July 22: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah will formally launch the National Cooperative Policy 2025 on July 24 at a high-profile event scheduled at Atal Akshay Urja Bhawan in New Delhi. This ambitious policy, a result of months of nationwide consultations, is poised to become a turning point in the cooperative movement in India, laying a strategic foundation for the sector from 2025 to 2045.
Framed under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and the stewardship of Shri Amit Shah, the new policy is a comprehensive effort to modernize, professionalize, and rejuvenate the cooperative landscape across the country. It envisions the realization of “Sahkar se Samriddhi”—prosperity through cooperation—by building a robust roadmap rooted at the grassroots. The announcement will be attended by the members of the drafting committee, chairpersons and managing directors of national cooperative unions, and senior officials from the Ministry of Cooperation, the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), National Council of Cooperative Training (NCCT) and the Vaikunth Mehta National Institute of Cooperative Management (VAMNICOM).
This will be the first major policy overhaul in more than two decades, replacing the earlier National Cooperative Policy of 2002. Over the past 20 years, significant shifts have occurred in the socio-economic and technological landscape due to globalization, digitalization, and evolving market dynamics. The new policy recognizes the need to align the cooperative sector with these contemporary realities, ensuring its active contribution in achieving the national goal of “Viksit Bharat 2047”.
The National Cooperative Policy 2025 has been drafted with a clear objective—to revive and transform cooperative institutions so they become inclusive, future-ready, and capable of generating employment and livelihood opportunities on a large scale, particularly in rural India. It aims to empower cooperatives not only as engines of local economic activity but also as instruments of social equity and community-led development.
A 48-member National Level Committee chaired by former Union Minister Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu was tasked with preparing the new policy. The committee comprised representatives from national and state cooperative federations, cooperative societies across sectors, officials from relevant central and state ministries, and distinguished academics. In order to ensure a truly participatory and inclusive approach, the committee organized 17 extensive meetings and four regional workshops in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Gurugram and Patna. During this consultative process, 648 suggestions were received from various stakeholders and meticulously evaluated before being incorporated into the final draft.
With its unveiling, the National Cooperative Policy 2025 is expected to chart a bold and visionary course for India’s cooperative sector. By integrating professional governance standards, adopting new technologies, and fostering grassroots participation, the policy seeks to position cooperatives as key contributors to India’s journey toward becoming a developed nation by 2047. The launch on July 24 will mark not just a policy shift, but a renewed national commitment to cooperative-led progress and inclusive prosperity.
