Dairy & Fisheries Co-ops to Serve as Bank Mitras: Financial Inclusion
The Ministry of Cooperation announced that dairy and fisheries cooperative societies will be designated as Bank Mitras of district central cooperative banks (DCCBs) and state cooperative banks (StCBs).
Supported by NABARD, micro-ATMs are being deployed to these societies to enable door-step digital financial services in rural and semi-urban areas.
The scheme began as a pilot in two DCCBs in Gujarat (12 July 2023) and was expanded statewide from 15 January 2024. An SOP for national rollout was launched on 19 September 2024.
The government says the move aims to broaden formal banking access, boost inclusion of women and marginalised communities, and integrate cooperative societies directly into financial service delivery.
SOP Key Operational Features
Based on official documentation and the press release:
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Launch date & scope: The pilot launched 12 July 2023 in Banaskantha & Panchmahal DCCBs, Gujarat.
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Full rollout SOP date: A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was issued 19 September 2024 for nationwide implementation.
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Eligibility: Primary Dairy Co-operative Societies (PDCS) or Fisheries Co-ops can become Bank Mitra agents of DCCBs / StCBs. Micro-ATMs to be deployed via NABARD support.
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Services to provide:
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Banking services through micro-ATMs (cash in/out, small deposits/withdrawals)
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Issuing RuPay Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs) to members via cooperative-bank linkage.
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Financial inclusion: focus on women, backward classes, underserved rural areas.
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Technology & infrastructure: Micro-ATMs provided, ERP linkups envisaged, cooperative societies to handle front-end services.
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Target states & scaling: After pilot in Gujarat, nationwide expansion is planned.
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Monitoring & oversight: The Ministry monitors progress; data (e.g., number of Micro-ATMs, KCCs issued) tracked in Gujarat pilot: >7,446 micro-ATMs and 7.25 lakh RuPay KCCs issued. cooperation.gov.in
2) Step-by-Step Implementation Checklist for a Dairy Cooperative
If you are part of a dairy or fishery co-op and want to become a Bank Mitra, here’s a practical checklist to follow:
| Step | Action | Key Considerations |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Eligibility & decision | Board resolution of the co-op to participate as Bank Mitra; liaise with your DCCB/StCB | Check your by-laws allow banking agency work; ensure governance readiness |
| 2. MoU with bank | Sign agreement with DCCB/StCB for agency services | Define roles, liabilities, revenue-share, risk management |
| 3. Infrastructure setup | Obtain micro-ATM devices (via NABARD route); ensure internet connectivity | Check power/back-up, secure location, staff training |
| 4. Staff training & compliance | Train staff/semi-skilled personnel for micro-ATM operations, KYC, basic banking | Compliance with RBI / cooperative regulations, data security |
| 5. Link with cooperative members | Register members for Kisan Credit Cards, inform farmers of services | Maintain clean member list, educate farmers about usage |
| 6. Marketing & awareness | Promote that your co-op is now a banking agent; highlight convenience | Use existing dairy-farmer network & meetings to spread word |
| 7. Service rollout | Start offering deposit/withdrawal, KCC issuance, basic banking at cooperative society branch or milk-collection centre | Maintain logs, track volume & fees, ensure reconciliations |
| 8. Monitoring & audit | Maintain records of transactions, submit reports to DCCB/StCB; cooperatives & NABARD will audit | Ensure transparency, reconcile micro-ATM data, protect against fraud |
| 9. Scale & review | Expand the service to more members/locations; review revenue versus cost | Monitor member usage, explore adding other services (insurance, digital payments) |
| 10. Feedback & continuous improvement | Collect feedback from farmer-members; troubleshoot infrastructure issues | Improve service quality, ensure uptime of micro-ATM, plan for upgrade |
3) Implications for Dairy Sector
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This initiative significantly expands the role of dairy co-ops beyond milk procurement and processing, enabling them to offer financial services and deepen their member-linkage.
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For dairy farmer-members, having their milk-society also serve as a banking access point means reduced travel, lower transaction cost, and improved access to credit.
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Co-ops will need to build stronger governance, digital infrastructure and risk-management capabilities to handle banking agent roles.
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Financial inclusion drive may increase trust and loyalty among farmer-members with the co-op being their single platform for both dairy & banking services.
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Cooperatives must ensure they do not over-extend: properly manage service quality of banking role while balancing core dairy business.
Industry Insight
Bringing dairy and fishery cooperatives into the formal banking network could transform rural finance and enhance the role of cooperatives beyond production and marketing.
For the dairy sector:
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Cooperatives already linked to milk procurement and farmer networks can leverage their outreach to deliver banking services (credit, insurance, payments) to their members.
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This could strengthen farmer access to formal finance, thereby reducing dependency on informal credit and improving working-capital flows for dairy operations.
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But cooperatives will need to build digital infrastructure, staff capacity and governance systems for banking operations—adding a new dimension to their remit beyond dairy processing.
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Policy-wise, this initiative signals a merging of agri-value chain institutions and financial inclusion frameworks, meaning dairy cooperatives must align with both agribusiness and banking/regulatory ecosystems to exploit the opportunity fully.