Centre/State rules demarcated: Sharad Pawar on Cooperation Min 'hijacking' affairs in Maha

Refuting claims of the PM Modi-led central government 'hijacking' affairs after the carving out of Ministry of Cooperation, Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar on Sunday made it clear that the co-operative societies fall in the purview of the state government, and the Central government cannot interfere. NCP, along with Shiv Sena, Congress, entered an alliance in 2019, under the name Maha Vikas Aghadi or Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi, and formed the present government in Maharashtra.  

Sharad Pawar reacts to the formation of Ministry of Cooperation 

Pawar said, “All the cooperative societies in the state are governed by the Maharashtra State Cooperative Act. The laws are passed in the state legislative assembly and council. Under this Act, the state government has the right to frame policies and enforce them in the sector.”

“The rules of the central and state governments are very well demarcated. They cannot interfere in each other’s jurisdiction. The Centre’s role is restricted to multi-state cooperative banks. I have been coming across reports citing how the creation of a separate cooperation ministry was solely to undermine or regulate state cooperatives. But all these assumptions are baseless,” Pawar added.

He also added that the Ministry of Co-operation was not a 'new concept' brought forward by the Central government. He said, "I was the Union minister for agriculture for ten years in the UPA government. The cooperation department was under the agriculture ministry then.”

Ministry of Cooperation

On July 6, the Central government formed the Ministry of Cooperation. Through a press release, the government announced the motive behind the formation of the Ministry. It will help deepen Co-operatives as a true people-based movement reaching up to the grassroots. In our country, a Co-operative based economic development model is very relevant where each member works with a spirit of responsibility. The Ministry will work to streamline processes for ‘Ease of doing business’ for co-operatives and enable the development of Multi-State Co-operatives (MSCS),” it said.

The Ministry has been accorded to Union Home Minister Amit Shah presently. 

(Credit-PTI)