Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that the state government will take a decision within a month on reviving the discontinued education fund of the Maharashtra State Cooperative Union, while honouring outstanding institutions and individuals for their contribution to the cooperative movement on the occasion of International Day of Cooperatives.
Ceremony Held at Yashwantrao Chavan Centre
The announcement was made at the Sahakar Gaurav Awards ceremony organised by the Maharashtra State Cooperative Union, headed by BJP Group Leader MLA Pravin Darekar, and Sahakari Maharashtra at the Yashwantrao Chavan Centre in Nariman Point.
Addressing the gathering, Fadnavis said Maharashtra has been the strongest pillar of India's cooperative movement, which has evolved over the last 125 years. He noted that the state's first cooperative credit society was established in 1904, while the first rural cooperative society was founded at Kankavli in the Konkan region. Today, Maharashtra is home to more than two lakh cooperative institutions, he said.
107-Year-Old Union Getting Fresh Direction
The Chief Minister praised the 107-year-old Maharashtra State Cooperative Union and said it was playing a key role in giving fresh direction to the cooperative sector under Darekar's leadership. Stressing the need to develop trained cooperative workers, he assured that the government would decide within a month on restarting the Union's education fund, which had been discontinued.
Highlighting reforms at the national level, Fadnavis said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recognised the strength of the cooperative movement by establishing a separate Union Ministry of Cooperation in 2021 under Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He said the newly announced National Cooperative Policy aims to triple the cooperative sector's contribution to India's GDP over the next two decades.
Housing Societies Form 40-45% of State's Cooperatives
The Chief Minister also underlined the importance of cooperative housing societies, which account for nearly 40-45 per cent of all cooperative institutions in Maharashtra. He said legislative reforms had granted them a separate chapter under the cooperative law, while the self-redevelopment policy had enabled thousands of families to secure larger homes. He assured that changes in the Unified Development Control and Promotion Regulations (UDCPR) would be considered to extend the benefits of self-redevelopment to housing societies in cities outside Mumbai.
Earlier, Pravin Darekar urged the government to restore the Cooperative Union's education fund and financial assistance, and called for extending the self-redevelopment policy to municipal corporations such as Pune, Thane and Nashik through suitable amendments to development regulations. He also sought government support for cooperative credit societies, urban banks and consumer cooperatives.
During the ceremony, Fadnavis presented awards to several eminent personalities and institutions for their outstanding contribution to various fields of the cooperative sector, including banking, housing, agriculture, rural development, social service and cooperative leadership. Prominent dignitaries, including Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar, Industries Minister Uday Samant, Minister of State for Cooperation Pankaj Bhoyar and several legislators, attended the event.
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