| Ministry of Cooperation | |
| Seal: | Government of India logo.svg |
| Seal Size: | 100px |
| Jurisdiction: | Government of India |
| Headquarters: | New Delhi |
| Minister1 Name: | Amit Shah |
| Deputyminister1 Type: | Minister of State |
| Deputyminister1 Name: | Krishan Pal Gurjar |
| Deputyminister2 Type: | Minister of State |
| Deputyminister2 Name: | Murlidhar Mohol |
| Chief1 Name: | Ashish Kumar Bhutani, IAS |
| Chief1 Position: | Secretary |
The Ministry of Cooperation is a Unionministry under the Government of India[1] which was formed in 2021. The ministry provides a separate administrative, legal and policy framework for strengthening the cooperative movement in the country. The ministry's creation was announced on 6 July 2021[2] along with its vision statement of Sahkar se samriddhi . Before the creation of this ministry, the objectives of this ministry were looked after by the Ministry of Agriculture.[3]
The ministry works in strengthening co-operatives at the grassroot level,[4] [5] working to streamline processes for 'Ease of doing business' for co-operatives and enabling the development of Multi-State Co-operatives (MSCS).[6] [7] The same was initially announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the 2021 Union budget.
The ministry was created with objectives of:[8]
Core Cooperative Society at National Level
Cooperative Banks at National Level
Development Cooperative Banks at National Level
Consumer Cooperative Societies at National Level
Worker Cooperative Societies at National Level
Housing Cooperative Societies at National Level
Producer/Marketing Cooperative Societies at National Level
| Portrait | Minister | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | Prime Minister | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | Period | ||||||||
| 1 | Amit Shah | 7 July 2021 | Incumbent | Bharatiya Janata Party | Modi II | Narendra Modi | ||||
| Modi III | ||||||||||
| Portrait | Minister | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | Prime Minister | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | Period | ||||||||
| 1 | B. L. Verma | 7 July 2021 | 9 June 2024 | Bharatiya Janata Party | Modi II | Narendra Modi | ||||
| 2 | Krishan Pal Gurjar | 10 June 2024 | Incumbent | Modi III | ||||||
| 3 | Murlidhar Mohol | |||||||||
Department of Co-operation State Committees was created with objectives of:
Co-operative societies, being a subject of State List under the Seventh schedule of the Constitution, many experts raised concerns that, creating such a ministry at the central level would increase the power in the hands of the union government.[9]
Kerala's Minister of Co-operation and Registration V. N. Vasavan claimed that, "Creation of a new Cooperation ministry will make it difficult for state government to interfere in cooperative organisations and is an infringement upon the federal rights of the state governments. [....] This is an intrusion into the authority of the state governments."[10]