Ayushman Sahakar Scheme
Union Minister of State for Agriculture Shri Parshottam Rupala recently launched AYUSHMAN SAHAKAR, a unique scheme to assist cooperatives play an important role in creation of healthcare infrastructure in the country formulated by the apex autonomous development finance institution under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC).
Key-features of the Scheme
- The aim of this scheme is to extend term loans to prospective cooperatives to the tune of Rs. 10,000 Crore for the setting up of healthcare-related infrastructure, education and services.
- Any Cooperative Society with a suitable provision in its bylaws to undertake healthcare-related activities would be able to access the NCDC fund.
- The scheme provides interest subvention of 1% to women majority cooperatives.
- The scheme also provides working capital and margin money to meet operational requirements. The scheme provides interest subvention of one percent to women majority cooperatives.
NCDC (National Cooperative Development Corporation)
- The National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) is a statutory Corporation set up under an Act of Indian Parliament on 13 March 1963.
- The objectives of NCDC are planning and promoting programmes for production, processing, marketing, storage, export and import of agricultural produce, foodstuffs, industrial goods, livestock and certain other notified commodities and services on cooperative principles and for matters concerned therewith or incidental thereto.
- NCDC Act has been further amended which will broad base the area of operation of the Corporation to assist different types of cooperatives and to expand its financial base.
- NCDC will now be able to finance projects in the rural industrial cooperative sectors and for certain notified services in rural areas like water conservation, irrigation and micro irrigation, agri-insurance, agro-credit, rural sanitation, animal health, etc.