Union Minister Nitin Gadkari meets NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar

Pic/X

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari met NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar at the latter's office in south Mumbai on Monday.

Pawar later described the meeting as a "goodwill visit".

In a post on X, the NCP (SP) chief said, "Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari paid a goodwill visit to Yashwantrao Chavan Centre in Mumbai today. During this visit, many important issues of the Centre and the State were discussed in detail."

NCP (SP) Maharashtra president Jayant Patil, MP Supriya Sule, the chairman of the administrative board of Maharashtra State Cooperative Society (MSC Bank) Vidyadhar Anaskar and party leader Yugendra Pawar were present during the visit.

Gadkari calls for new law for cooperative sector to keep pace with 'evolving economic conditions'

Meanwhile, Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday suggested the Maharashtra government to formulate a new law for the cooperative sector in the state considering the evolving economic conditions.

The cooperative sector would play a key role in improving the financial condition of people from rural areas, he said, and urged the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank, the apex cooperative bank in the state, to study the socio-economic impact of the cooperative movement in the state.

Addressing a public function, Gadkari said, "It is my request to Maharashtra chief minister and deputy chief minister to come up with a revised act for the cooperative sector. We must find a golden mean between the Cooperative Act and the Companies Act and formulate a new legislation accordingly."

"There is a need to amend the laws governing cooperative establishments to align with evolving economic conditions," he said.

The Road Transport and Highways Minister said the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank should conduct a comprehensive study on the socio-economic impact of the cooperative movement in the state.

"The socio-economic impact of the cooperative movement in Maharashtra should be studied across the state at the tehsil and district levels. It should measure employment, per capita income and growth rate," he said.

Highlighting the economic imbalance between sectors, Gadkari said while the manufacturing sector contributes 22 to 24 per cent, the services sector 52 to 54 per cent to the GDP generating maximum Goods and Services Tax (GST). The agriculture and rural development sector contributes only 12 per cent despite employing 60 per cent of the population, he said.

"Nearly 30 per cent of people have migrated to cities out of compulsion due to lack of education, jobs and facilities in rural areas," Gadkari said.