On Sunday, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated the Youth Cooperative Conference and UP Cooperative Expo 2025 at Jupiter Hall, Indira Gandhi Pratishthan, as part of the International Year of Cooperatives 2025. On the occasion, he also honoured individuals and institutions for their outstanding contributions to the cooperative sector.
During the event, the Chief Minister announced major relief for small and marginal farmers. He noted that loans from the UP Cooperative Rural Development Bank currently carry an interest rate of around 11.5 percent, placing a significant burden on farmers. To address this, the state government has decided to reduce the interest rate to just 6 percent for small and marginal farmers.
Under the Mukhyamantri Krishak Samridhi Yojana, loans will now be provided at six percent interest through the LDB, with the remaining interest subsidy borne by the state government.
CM Yogi said, “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the central government constituted a separate Ministry of Cooperation for the first time, which was earlier only a small department under the Ministry of Agriculture. As the country’s first Union Minister for Cooperation, Amit Shah has taken the cooperative movement to new heights.”
He noted that the United Nations has declared 2025 as the International Year of Cooperatives, and inspired by the Prime Minister, India has taken several decisive steps to strengthen the cooperative ecosystem. Cooperation, he said, is a pillar of mutual trust, social equality, and self-reliance.
He highlighted that nearly one-fourth of the world’s cooperative societies are in India, with over 8.44 lakh societies and more than 30 crore members forming a powerful collective force. He said, “Over the past 11 years, India has witnessed transformative change, with technology being leveraged to simplify lives and ensure a transparent, corruption-free system.”
He added, “Digitalisation, e-governance, and transparent policies have strengthened accountability and good governance in the cooperative sector as well. Through PACS, the membership of multipurpose primary rural cooperative societies has expanded, financial inclusion has deepened, agriculture and rural development have gained momentum, and the cooperative movement has been further reinforced.”
CM Yogi said, “Uttar Pradesh undertook several landmark initiatives for the first time during the International Year of Cooperatives. The year was launched on January 26 with a ‘Run for Cooperation’, which saw participation from thousands. On March 21, 2025, the UP State Cooperative Limited organised its AGM, during which an online dividend of Rs 76 crore was distributed to stakeholders. On July 6, 2025, marking the fourth foundation day of the Union Ministry of Cooperation, certificates were distributed to 266 ‘Drone Didis’.”
He added, “A mega PACS membership drive was conducted from September 12 to November 30, adding 24 lakh new members and generating a share capital of Rs 43 crore. Earlier, in September 2023, the state had conducted its first PACS membership campaign, enrolling 30 lakh new members and mobilising a share capital of Rs 70 crore. At present, district cooperative banks have over two lakh bank accounts with deposits totalling Rs 550 crore.”
Referring to the situation before 2017, the Chief Minister said, “16 district cooperative banks had been declared defaulters and had even lost their RBI licences. Today, however, cooperative banks in Uttar Pradesh are no longer ailing institutions but financially sound entities contributing to the prosperity of farmers and members, while actively supporting government schemes.”
He further stated that the state government has provided interest-free loans of up to Rs 10 lakh to PACS, and efforts are underway to raise this limit to Rs 15 lakh after addressing manpower shortages. Interest-free loans of Rs 10 lakh have already been sanctioned to 6,760 PACS for fertilizer distribution, ensuring an uninterrupted supply. The government is working towards routing nearly 50 percent of fertilizer, pesticide, and chemical distribution through PACS and cooperative societies. Addressing staffing gaps in societies will boost farmer participation and increase membership.
PACS in the state have conducted business worth Rs 6,400 crore, earning profits of Rs 191 crore. Additionally, 161 PACS have established Jan Aushadhi Kendras to provide affordable generic medicines, recording business of over Rs 1.86 crore so far.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said, “The cooperative sector in Uttar Pradesh has undergone a transformative change, especially in the areas of storage, energy, and infrastructure.”
Under Government of India schemes, Kothwa Pandey M-PACS has developed the state’s largest warehouse with a capacity of 1,500 metric tonnes. Similar storage facilities are being developed through 24 new PACS and are targeted for completion by 2025–26. Solar rooftop panels have already been installed in 502 M-PACS across the state.
To revive dilapidated and ageing warehouses, financial assistance of ₹10 lakh has been provided to each M-PACS. So far, strengthening works have been completed in 980 M-PACS at a cost of ₹70 crore, while an additional ₹30 crore has been earmarked for 2025–26.
More than 800 newly constituted M-PACS are also receiving government support for upgradation. Infrastructure development has been further accelerated through the provision of ₹1 lakh as margin money.
The Chief Minister said, “The Uttar Pradesh State Cooperative Bank has now secured ‘A’ category status from NABARD and is currently operating through 40 branches across the state. All 50 District Cooperative Banks are now running in profit. Earlier, several banks were in distress, and others were on the brink of collapse. Timely corrective measures and institutional reforms have ensured their revival. In 2024–25 alone, the Cooperative Bank recorded a profit exceeding ₹162.02 crore.”
Highlighting the contrast with the past, the Chief Minister said, “Previous governments promoted a ‘one district, one mafia’ system, which devastated the cooperative sector and trapped farmers’ capital. Through sustained efforts, ₹4,700 crore of farmers’ money has been recovered. With the elimination of mafia influence, cooperative banks are once again functioning efficiently and expanding. The state is now moving decisively towards a “one district, one cooperative bank” framework, with the process of establishing a new district cooperative bank in Balrampur already underway.”
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath emphasized that the youth are the future architects of the cooperative movement and said that the Youth Cooperative Conference would prove to be a milestone in the state’s prosperity. He noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has articulated the vision of ‘Prosperity through Cooperation’ and ‘Self-reliance through Cooperation’, underlining the need to strengthen cooperatives to realize the goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047.
The Chief Minister called upon the youth to acquire training, work with integrity, and advance the cooperative movement through collective effort and teamwork.
Former Union Minister Suresh Prabhu, Cabinet Minister Swatantra Dev Singh, Minister of State for Social Welfare (Independent Charge) Asim Arun, MP Brijlal, MLAs Dr Neeraj Bora, Yogesh Shukla, Rajeshwar Singh, Amrish Kumar and Jay Devi, MLCs Mukesh Sharma, Pawan Singh Chauhan, Umesh Dwivedi, Engineer Avnish Singh and Ramchandra Pradhan, Chairman of the Uttar Pradesh State Cooperative Bank Jitendra Bahadur Singh, along with several other dignitaries, were present on the occasion.
