The Government has initiated preparations for a nationwide Rapid Survey on Functional Cooperatives to address critical data gaps in assessing the economic contribution and employment generation of India’s cooperative sector. The initiative aims to generate robust estimates of Gross Value Added, Gross Value of Output and employment across major cooperative segments at the national level.
Recognising the pivotal role of cooperatives in agricultural production, rural development, housing, employment generation and poverty alleviation, the Ministry of Cooperation has approached the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation to undertake the survey. The statistics ministry has agreed in principle to conduct the exercise, subject to the provision of a comprehensive list of Functional Cooperatives by the Ministry of Cooperation.
The proposed survey will be based on the National Cooperative Database, which will serve as the sampling frame. It will cover both primary cooperatives and their federations across 30 sectors, grouped broadly into Credit Cooperatives, Housing Cooperatives, Producer Cooperatives, Marketing Cooperatives, Social Sector Cooperatives and Multipurpose Cooperatives. The design reflects the diversity and scale of cooperative activity across the country.
To enable meaningful analysis over time, the survey will capture comparative data for two reference periods, the financial years 2020–21 and 2023–24. The exercise is proposed to be launched in April 2026 and will run for a duration of six months.
As part of the preparatory process, the draft Rapid Survey on Functional Cooperatives schedule for ASUSE 2026 has been uploaded on the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation website for wider consultation. Researchers, policymakers, industry bodies, academic institutions and members of the public have been invited to review the draft questionnaire and provide feedback on its structure, content and sectoral coverage.
The Government has stated that the inputs received during the consultation phase will be critical in improving the quality, coverage and policy relevance of the final survey instrument. Suggestions and comments may be submitted by 16 February 2026 to the designated official email addresses in the prescribed format.
Once implemented, the survey is expected to provide a clearer and more evidence-based understanding of the cooperative sector’s contribution to the Indian economy, supporting informed policymaking and targeted interventions for strengthening cooperatives nationwide.
