The Nationl Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) was established by an Act of Parliament in 1962 as a statury Corporation under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. The prime function of NCDC is to plan, promote and develop cooperatives for augmenting income through activities such as Development of agriculture marketing, processing, storage and supply of inputs and consumer goods. The setting up of agro-industries was the prime focused areas with promoting income generating activities under weaker section programmes such as fishery, poultry, dairy, livestock, coir, sericulture, handlooms, minor forst produce etc. under the leadership of Ms Vasudha Mishra, IAS, Managing Director. The Krishi Jagran Team had interaction with Shri Sachin Sharma, Assistant Director,NCDC. ShriSharma enthusiastically informed us about the activities of NCDC and role of the corporation in transformation of the lives of the Farmers.
How many cooperative societies with the membership is working under the flagship of the NCDC?
The National Cooperative Development Corporation in short NCDC is a unique organization engaged in the devlopment of rural and Agriculture sector through cooperatives. There is total network of 6 lacs cooperative and a membership base of 24 crore spread from the remotest village to national level, the Indian cooperative movement is the largest in the world covering 100 percent of the villages in the country.
Would you like to elaborate the role and how you are helping the farmers and the cooperatives?
NCDC was established in the year 1963 as an Apex financial and developmental institutuion exclusively for the cooperative sector in the country. It strengthens and promotes programmes for processing, marketing, storage, export and import of agricultural produce, foodstuff and certain nitified commodities through cooperatives. The aim of the Corporation to develop and strengthen cooperatives to enable them to serve their members, besides enhancing their income, while contributing to improvement of their livelihoods and growth of the economy as a whole. The corporation provides libera assistance to strengthen and develop cooperatives to the extent of 90-95 percent of the project cost which may include subsidy component of 20-25 percent under certain schemes to cooperatives in the cooperatively under-developed and least developed States.
What are those Schemes and how they are transforming the livelihood of the Farmers?
Over the past few years, numerous schemes have been introduced by NCDC. Financial assistance is provided by the Corporation under its own schemes and Central Sector Schemes. NCDC had been financing various activities through multifarious patterns of assistance. For better understanding and rationalization of various patterns of assistance, NCDC has divided them into five categories, which are Business Devlopment; Infrastructure Creation(Project Facilities); Agro-Processing; Integrated Cooperati8ve Development Projects (ICDP); Promotional and Devlopmental Programmes. There are three Central Schemes, namely Strengthening of Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure, Grading and Standardization; Gramin Bhandaran yojana; and Capital Investmenty Subsidy (CIS) Schemes.
How is the Development and Strengthening of Agriculture Marketing is taking care of the Farmers?
The Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India introduced a scheme for development/strengthening of agricultural marketing infrastructure, grading and standardization to encourage rapid development of infrastructure projects in the agricultural and allied sectors including dairy, meat, fisheries and minor forest produce in the states and Uts where APMC Act has been amended. Under this scheme, a back ended subsidy of 25 percent of the capital cost up to Rs.50 lacs in each project is available provided it is a `Direct` service delivery to producers/farming community in post harvest management/marketing of their produce. Subsidy is 33.33 percent of the capital cost up to Rs. 60 lacs in case of North-Eastern States, hilly and tribal areas, and in the States of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu& Kashmir and for SC/ST Entrepreneurs and their cooperatives. Assistance under the scheme is availbale on capital cost of the project only.
What is the Gramin Bhandaran Yojana?
The main objective of this scheme is the creation of scientific storage capacity with allied facilities in Rural Areas to meet the requirements of the Farmers for storing farm produce, procesed farm produce and agricultural inputs; promotion of grading, standardization and quality control of agricultural produce to improve their marketability ; prevention of distress sale immediately after the harvest by proving the facility of pledge financing and marketing credit; strengthen agricultural marketing infrastructure in the country by paving the way for the introduction of a national system of warehouse receipts in respect of agricultural commodities stored in such godowns and to reverse the declining trend of investment in agriculture sector by encouraging private and cooperative sectors to invest in the creation of storage infrastructure in the country.
Assistance under the scheme shall be available on capital cost of construction of godown including the cost of allied facilities like boundry wall, internal road, platform, internal drainage system, weighing, drading, packaging, quality certification, warehousing facilities which are functionally required to operate the godown. One more information I would like to add that the NCDC has been notified as one of the Accreditation Agency for undertaking accreditation of warehouses on behalf of Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authprity (WDRA) set under the Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2007.
What about the Infrastructure Creation, Project Facilities?
All types of small and medium sized units (other than agro-procesing units) including small scale industrial units, cottage & village industries, handicrafts, other products of allied industres, cane and bamboo units, coir units etc., Plant & Machinery/ equipment including integrated projects (other than ICDP), setting up of storage/godowns
(includingrenovation/repairs/upgradation) worheds, purchasefloors of looms, cooperatives/industrial estates, service and repair centres, show rooms, showrooms-cum-godowns, market yards, rearing units and grainages, fish tanks/farms, poultry farms, rearing and breeding of livestock animals, establishment of seed farms etc. cold storages, ice plants, freezing plants, boat building including inputs and other infrastructure for fisheries, furniture & fixtures, transport vehicles including refrigerated and insulated vehicles, installation of /purchase of computers/computerization etc. Seetting up of agro-service/farmers service centres, insecticides/pesticides formulation units, units to manufacture inputs like bio-fertilizers/granular fertilizers, organi manure, creation of water harvesting/irrigation infrstructural facilities, Services Cooperatives etc.
What are the newly notified services?
The newly notified services like tourism, hospitality & transport, electricity & Power, rural housing, hospitals, healthcare and education have been included in NCDC`s sphere of operations.
Who are eligible to get benefit from the NCDC?
The Cooperatives registered under the State Cooperative Societies` Act or Multi-State Cooperative Societies` Act are elible for financial assistance under the aforesaid schemes. The Financial Assitance to cooperatives is routed through the State Governments or directly on the guarantee of the State Governments or against security to the satisfaction of NCDC on fulfillment of certain conditions. And in the case of the National Level cooperatives, assistance is provided directly.
Share your comments