What is the National Cooperative Database (NCD)?

About National Cooperative Database (NCD)

• It is an initiative of the Ministry of Cooperation. 
• Under this initiative, the Ministry of Cooperation has recognized the imperative need for a robust database to capture vital information about India's vast cooperative sector.
• NCD has been developed in collaboration with state governments, National Federations and stakeholders, and aims to foster a cooperative-centric economic model.
• It is a web-based digital dashboard wherein data of cooperative societies, including National/State Federations have been captured.
• The data of cooperative societies has been entered and validated by States/ UTs nodal officials at RCS/ DRCS offices, and the data of federations has been provided by various national/state federations.
• NCD has collected/mapped information about 8 lakh cooperatives with collective membership of more than 29 crores spread across various sectors in the country. 
• The information collected from cooperative societies are on various parameters, such as their registered name, date, location, number of members, sectoral information, area of operation, economic activities, financial statements, status of audit etc. 
• NCD serves as a crucial tool for efficient communication between the Central Ministry, States/UTs, and Cooperative Societies, benefiting all stakeholders in the cooperative sector. 
• The database provides comprehensive contact details for registered societies, facilitating smooth communication between government entities and these societies.
• NCD offers a myriad of benefits, including:
  • o Single-point access
  • o comprehensive and updated data
  • o user-friendly interface
  • o vertical and horizontal linkages
  • o query-based reports and graphs
  • o Management Information System (MIS) reports
  • o data analytics
  • o Geographical Mapping. 

Q1) What are cooperative societies?

Cooperatives are voluntary associations that are jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprises, addressing shared economic, social, and cultural needs. These societies work on the principle of self-help as well as mutual help. The primary goal is to provide support to the members. The 97th Constitutional Amendment Act incorporated the term ‘cooperatives’ into Article 19(1)(c), granting the right to form cooperatives, and introduced Article 43(B) in the DPSP (Part IV) to support the promotion of these societies. 

Source: ‘Sahakar Se Samriddhi’: Amit Shah To Launch National Cooperative Database On Friday