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The pandemic extensively affected all sectors, including cooperatives. However, the government has extended COVID-19 relief through various measures/ packages from time to time to mitigate challenges faced by different sectors, he said in the Lok Sabha. ”In order to assess the impact of a pandemic on the cooperative societies, a study has been entrusted to National Cooperative Union of India,” Shah said in his written reply to the Lower House. In order to address the fallout of the COVID pandemic, the minister said National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) has stepped up its financial assistance to cooperative societies. Financial assistance of Rs 34,221.08 crore for 2021-22 and Rs 24,733.24 crore in 2020-21 was provided by NCDC.
Further, during the COVID pandemic, NCDC has restructured loans to the tune of Rs 203.78 crore for sugar cooperatives and Rs 369.68 crore for textile cooperatives, Shah said. In the case of Andhra Pradesh, the minister in a separate reply said that NCDC provided financial assistance of Rs 2,831.58 crore during the 2021-22 financial year, with the maximum amount to cooperatives in Vijayawada, followed by Guntur and Chittoor.
During the first six months of the current 2022-23 fiscal, NCDC has provided Rs 90.16 crore assistance to Andhra Pradesh. NCDC is also implementing the ”Yuva Sahakar – Cooperative Enterprise Support and Innovation Scheme” in all states and Union territories, he added.