It was in July 2021, during the second term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi led NDA government, that a separate Ministry of Cooperation was created and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, one of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) most influential leaders with long experience in Gujarat’s cooperative movement, was given its charge.For many associated with the sector, that single decision marked the beginning of its biggest institutional shift in decades. “I would not say cooperatives were neglected, but they certainly did not receive the attention they deserved,” says Prabhat Chaturvedi, Chief Executive Officer of the National Urban Cooperative Finance and Development Corporation (NUCFDC). “The creation of a separate ministry brought renewed focus. Because it is headed by one of the most influential ministers in the Cabinet, other ministries also started taking the cooperative sector much more seriously.”Laxmi Dass, the President of the National Federation of Urban Cooperative Banks and Credit Societies (NAFCUB), echoes that view. Having spent over three decades in the cooperative sector, he says stakeholders had long sought a separate ministry. “Whenever a full-fledged ministry is created, it naturally gives greater thrust to that subject. Earlier, cooperation kept shifting between ministries. Today, there is a dedicated ministry with a minister who himself understands the cooperative movement,” Dass told ThePrint.Five years later, that political attention has translated into much more: a new cooperative policy after more than two decades, digitisation of thousands of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), an attempted turnaround of urban cooperative banks, creation of a national cooperative institutions for exports, organic farming and quality seeds, and cooperatives pushed into sectors ranging from ride-hailing and insurance to renewable energy.Supporters credit the ministry with giving the sector unprecedented political backing, while experts argue the next phase must focus on stronger governance, professional management and financially sustainable institutions.On 6 July, Cooperation Minister Amit Shah lays foundation stone of various developmental schemes on occasion of ‘Golden 5 Years’ completion of the Ministry of Cooperation. | ANI