Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar has said that the Karnataka Cooperative Societies Act, 1959, will be amended in the next legislative session to make it in line with the 97th amendment of the Constitution made to encourage economic activities of cooperatives.
Speaking at the zonal conference organised here on Monday by Krishak Bharati Cooperative Ltd. (KRIBHCO), he said that the Karnataka government had taken many initiatives to foster the cooperative sector, including setting aside Rs. 643 crore for strengthening credit coop societies as per the recommendation of the Vaidyanathan Committee. He said about 36,000 cooperatives in the State have generated 15 lakh jobs. About 40 per cent of sugar production, 28 per cent of chemical fertilizer production and 54 per cent of handloom weaving happens in the cooperative sector, he added. The first ever cooperative was set up in Gadag a century ago, recalled the Chief Minister.
