Rejuvenating the Cooperative Sector

........Perhaps a more important feature of cooperative development is that the penetrative out- reach of the command area of the rural cooperative is formidable as emphasized by V. K. Sharma ( see RBI Bulletin Jan 2012). Commercial Banks and Regional Rural Banks ( RRBs) account for some 33,000 rural branches. In sharp contrast, the network of cooperative credit institutions accounts for a total of 1,22,590 service centres: 33 State Cooperative Banks with 953 branches: 371 District Central Cooperative Banks ( DCCBs) with 12,858 branches: and 109,000 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies ( PACs). Thus although in terms of magnitudes of flow of credit, the role of cooperative credit institutions is somewhat modest, the ubiquitous presence of these institutions is quite obvious. This has great relevance for financial inclusion. Unfortunately, Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) seems to think that financial inclusion is the exclusive prerogative of commercial banks. There is a need to involve cooperative credit institutions in this exercise............

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