THE LOK Sabha passed two Bills — the National Cooperative Development Corporation (Amendment) Bill 2026 and the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill 2026 — by voice vote amid Opposition protests on Tuesday. The House was adjourned for the day soon after the passage of the two Bills.
As the Opposition continued its protest seeking the presence of Shah in the House, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju took a dig at Congress leader K C Venugopal, who comes from Kerala, after the passage of the Bill to rename Kerala to Keralam. “The Kerala Bill was passed, but KC Venugopal could not speak on it. I am sad to say this,” said the minister.
Union Minister of State for Cooperation Murlidhar Mohol spoke briefly amid slogans before the Bill dealing with the National Cooperative Development Corporation was passed. He said under the original Act of 1962, some organisations are not yet registered. Till now, he said, the NCDC cannot fund them though they are working to advance the cooperative field.
The analysis of the Bill by PRS Legislative Research says, “Under the Act, the Corporation may provide: (i) funds to state governments for financing co-operative societies, or (ii) loans and grants directly to co-operative societies at the national level or those operating in more than one state. The Bill allows state governments to also extend funding from the Corporation to any entity engaged in co-operative development. Further, the Corporation may also provide loans and grants directly to any co-operative society or entity engaged in co-operative development.”
“Their government disbursed only Rs 45,000 crore in 50 years via NCDC. After that, in 11 years, Rs 4-lakh crore were disbursed,” Mohol said, suggesting that the Narendra Modi government had done much more for cooperatives than previous governments.
He underlined that the Bill has been brought because the NCDC field of work needs expansion. “The NCDC can now give direct loans and grants against security to any organisation working under the cooperative sector,” he said, adding that the Bill would make NCDC more effective to fulfill society’s present needs.
No additional budget is required for this Bill, Mohol said, asserting that it “just expands the activities of the NCDC”. The Bill also removes some redundant aspects of the Act, he said.
