Centre's three new national cooperatives signal sector's growing clout

But, critics say the approach in forming should have been bottoms-up instead of top-down

Perhaps for the first time ever in the long history of the Indian cooperative movement, the Centre, through a cabinet decision, announced the formation of not one but three brand new multi-state cooperative societies that will cover a whole gamut of issues such as seed production and distribution, organic farming, and export promotion.

The three cooperatives formed under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act will act as anchors and facilitators to promote their respective objectives. They will have members from all sorts of existing state cooperatives and even national ones.

National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of