Cooperative movement in Maharashtra won't be affected by new central ministry: Sharad Pawar

PUNE:  NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday refuted reports which claimed that the newly-formed Ministry of Cooperation at the Centre may "hijack the cooperative movement" in Maharashtra.

The concept is not new, but the Centre cannot interfere in the state's cooperative sector, Pawar told reporters in Baramati town here.

"As per the Constitution, cooperative institutions registered in a state come under the (jurisdiction of that respective) state," he said.

The Centre's newly-formed ministry is about multi-state cooperative institutions, the former Union minister said.

"A state cannot control a cooperative institution registered in more than one state, which is called multi-state, and the central government has control over it," said Pawar, whose party shares power with the Shiv Sena and Congress in Maharashtra.

He said taking a decision on such a multi-state cooperative institution comes under the central government's cooperation department.

"This is not a new decision as such. It was there when I was in the central government. But, unfortunately, the media is painting a different picture that the Centre's Ministry of Cooperation may hijack or end the cooperative movement in Maharashtra," he said.

The central government recently carved out a new ministry for cooperation, which earlier was a small department in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

Union minister Amit Shah, who has been given the charge of the newly-created ministry, on Saturday said the government is determined to make cooperatives and all cooperative institutions more empowered.

To a query on the Uniform Civil Code, Pawar said, "I can't comment on it till the central government takes any decision. We are waiting for the central government's take on it. Once they clear it, only then we can say something." 

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