Centre ducks question on Ministry of Cooperation

NEW DELHI:  The Centre has ducked questions in Parliament on the consultation process it followed before constituting the Ministry of Cooperation, headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. It said this was created keeping in view the functional requirements of the government and to maximize administrative efficiency.

Rajya Sabha MPs — CPI’s Binoy Viswam and YSR Congress Party’s Venkataramana Rao Mopidevi — asked questions on the new ministry. The response to these questions is yet to be uploaded by the Rajya Sabha secretariat. The MPs were told there is a delay because this  is a new ministry.

Viswam asked about the mandate of the Ministry of Cooperation and whether the Centre consulted the state sovernments regarding creation of a new ministry that deals with Cooperative Societies regulated by state laws. BI Verma, Minister of State in the Ministry of Cooperation, said that ministries/departments are recognised/merged/created keeping in view the functional requirement of the government and to maximize administrative efficiency. “The Ministry of Cooperation has been created by transferring the existing entries related to cooperation and cooperative in the business of the erstwhile Department of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmers Welfare.”

On whether the mandate of the ministry is different from the Department of Cooperation under the Ministry of Agriculture, the minister said there shall be no overlap between the functions of the Ministry of Cooperation and Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. According to the government, the Ministry of Cooperation will provide a separate administrative legal and policy framework for strengthening the cooperative movement.

“It will help deepen cooperatives as a true people-based movement reaching the grassroots. A cooperative-based development model is relevant where each member works with a spirit of responsibility. The Ministry will work to streamline processes,” he said.