UP to Set Up State Cooperative College

Lucknow, Sep 12 (PTI) Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday directed officials to prepare a roadmap to set up a State Cooperative College in Uttar Pradesh to promote study, teaching, and research in the cooperative sector.

He said cooperatives must become gateways for youth employment in agriculture, dairy, fisheries, and services, according to an official statement.

The chief minister was reviewing the state's cooperative department in the presence of Union Minister of State for Cooperation Muralidhar Mohol, who lauded Uttar Pradesh's achievements as "exemplary for other states".

As part of the M-PACS Membership Mahabhiyan (September 12-October 12), the government aims to connect every farmer-family with cooperatives. In last year's drive, over 30 lakh new members were enrolled, including 17.33 lakh farmers.

The chief minister emphasised that the trust of farmers and depositors is the "real capital" of cooperatives and said the state, under the guidance of Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah, is scripting "a new history" in the sector.

The chief minister said that in the first membership campaign held in 2023, more than 30 lakh new members were added, including 17.33 lakh farmers, 3.92 lakh unskilled workers, 1.56 lakh skilled workers, 2.20 lakh animal husbandry and 6,411 fisheries. A contribution of Rs 70 crore was received in the cooperative sector from this campaign.

Mohol said the achievements of Uttar Pradesh in the field of cooperatives are exemplary for other states, and the state is playing a leading role in realising the vision of the Prime Minister.

While reviewing the cooperative banking reforms in the meeting, it was informed that from 2017-18 to 2024-25, 16 closed district cooperative banks have been revived by the state government with the assistance of Rs 306.92 crore.

The NPA of these banks decreased from Rs 800 crore in 2017 to Rs 278 crore in March 2025. By March 2025, the loan business of Rs 1,000 crore was recorded, and all the banks came into profit, according to the statement.

The chief minister said that the trust of farmers and depositors is the real capital of cooperatives, and it should be kept safe at all costs.

He said that cooperatives are an ancient tradition of Indian rural society.

It has a big role in keeping society united.

On this occasion, the formation and functioning of the Multipurpose Primary Agricultural Credit Society (M-PACS) were also reviewed in detail, according to the statement.

It was told that in the current financial year, so far 457 new M-PACS have been formed compared to 266 M-PACS in 2024-25, while in September, the organisation process is going on in 1,088 Gram Panchayats.

M-PACs have been given an interest-free loan limit of up to Rs 10 lakh for fertiliser distribution, from which a turnover of Rs 5,400 crore and margin money of Rs 120 crore have been received so far, the statement added.