Parliament Question: Extension program by NCDC

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COOPERATION RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2094 ANSWERED ON 11.03.2026 Extension program by NCDC 2094. Dr. Dinesh Sharma: Will the Minister of Cooperation be pleased to state: (a) Whether National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) is taking any steps to increase awareness and reach of its initiatives in rural areas, including among small and marginal farmers, if so, the details thereof; (b) the details of the total expenditure incurred on various promotional and developmental activities during the last three years? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF COOPERATION (SHRI AMIT SHAH) (a) National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), a statutory corporation under the administrative control of Ministry of Cooperation through its Corporate Communication Division, is actively implementing the Extension Programme to increase awareness and reach of its initiatives in rural areas, with special focus on small and marginal farmers. Key measures include: • Regular advertisements in agriculture/cooperative-focused magazines (e.g., Kriti Kalp, Gau Krishi, NAFCUB publications, etc) and other popular magazines like India Today and Outlook. • Advertisement in newspapers, plus web advertisements on farmer-centric portals • Active social media presence for scheme promotion and success stories through social media platforms like X (Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, YouTube channel (Sahakar Cooptube NCDC India). • Sponsorships and participation in rural/cooperative events, exhibitions, melas, and workshops (e.g., Sahakar Bharti, Agri Vision, Agriculture Science Congress, Food & Beverage Expo, CoCo Fest and other agriculture workshops). • Production of promotional videos and institutional memberships (CICTAB, NEDAC, IRMA, FAI and ICA) for knowledge-sharing and grassroots outreach.• Workshops by LINAC and regional training centers, across the country. These efforts target rural cooperatives (PACS/FPOs) to directly benefit small & marginal farmers. Further, LINAC a training institute under NCDC conducts training for the primary cooperatives which helps the farmers in the rural areas. LINAC has conducted various training programs during last three years across India. Year wise training details conducted by LINAC along with 19 RTCs are as under: Year No. of Trainings conducted No. of Participants trained 2022-23 245 18,334 2023-24 98 3,941 2024-25 666 1,41,210 (b) Expenditure on promotional and developmental activities, during the last three years as per audited accounts, is as under: Financial Year Publicity /Promotional (in Rs) 2022-23 Rs. 79,70,284 2023-24 Rs.28,64,047 2024-25 Rs.1,11,00,483 *****