Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting to review the progress of the cooperative sector, where he stressed the expansion of the sector, especially in trade of organic products, an official statement said.

The PM suggested focusing on export markets and developing a soil-testing model through cooperatives to improve agricultural practices, an official quoted him as saying.

“The Prime Minister highlighted the importance of integrating UPI with RuPay KCC cards to facilitate financial transactions and emphasized the need for healthy competition among cooperative organizations,” the statement said.

Modi also emphasized the importance of documenting the assets of cooperative organizations to ensure transparency and suggested promoting cooperative farming as a more sustainable agricultural model, according to the statement.

“He further added that young graduates should be encouraged to contribute, and Cooperative organisations should be ranked based on their performance, so as to promote competition and growth simultaneously,” the release stated.

The meeting was attended by home and cooperation minister Amit Shah, cooperation secretary Ashish Kumar Bhutani and principal secretary to PK Mishra among others.

During the meeting PM was briefed about National Cooperation Policy and key achievements of the Ministry of Cooperation over the past three and a half years. 

In the context of education, the Prime Minister proposed introducing cooperative courses in schools, colleges, and IIMs, as well as promoting successful cooperative organizations to inspire future generations.