Our Correspondent
Kohima | September 3
The Nagaland Cooperative Policy, 2026 was tabled by Jacob Zhimomi, Minister of Public Health Engineering & Cooperation at the 9th session of the 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) in Kohima on September 3.
“Nagaland, with its unique socio-economic landscape and abundant natural resources, stands to benefit significantly from a robust cooperative sector. This Cooperative Policy aims to establish a comprehensive framework for the development, regulation, and promotion of cooperatives in Nagaland, aligning with the vision and guidelines of the National Cooperative Policy 2025. The objective is to foster inclusive growth, empower rural communities, and contribute to the overall socio-economic development of the state,” the Policy stated.
Cooperative Movement in Nagaland started with establishment of two Cooperatives – Kohima Pioneers MPCS Ltd at Kohima and Ao Trading Cooperative Society Ltd at Mokokchung in the year 1946. However, the main effort for organizing cooperative movement in Nagaland started with the establishment of the office of Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Nagaland in 1966. The National cooperative laws and cooperative policies influenced the direction and development of cooperatives in Nagaland.
The State government acknowledged the role of cooperative form of organization which can play vital role in establishing and promotion of economics and social democracy and the implementation of democratic planning with the ideal of a welfare state. In view of new developments, the State government adopted the Nagaland Cooperative Society Act in 2017 relinquishing the Assam cooperative Act 1949 which was then in operation.
The Nagaland Cooperative Policy 2026 aligns with the National Cooperation Policy 2025's vision of "Sahkar-se-Samriddhi" (Cooperation to Prosperity), adapting it to Nagaland's unique tribal, agrarian, and biodiversity-rich context under Article 371 (A) protections. It promotes voluntary, democratic cooperatives as engines for sustainable livelihoods in agriculture, horticulture, handicrafts, and eco-tourism while integrating customary village councils. This policy strengthens grassroots Primary Cooperative Societies, the grassroot level institutions to cover all villages, fostering economic self reliance to rural and urban population.
The vision of the policy is to make cooperatives a central pillar of Nagaland’s economy and society by 2047, significantly enhancing their contribution to Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), employment and social cohesion, while preserving tribal identity, customary laws, State’s rich biodiversity and achieving the challenging Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The mission is to create an enabling legal, regulatory and institutional environment for autonomous, transparent, technology-enabled and professionally managed cooperatives at all tiers, to expand and strengthen cooperatives across priority sectors that leverage Nagaland’s local strengths—rice and millets, spices, fruits, coffee, bamboo, handloom, handicrafts, piggery, poultry, fisheries, non-timber forest produce and eco tourism etc and to ensure that cooperatives become vehicles for financial inclusion, livelihood security and social empowerment, especially for women, youth and vulnerable groups, in alignment with State and national development goals.
The Policy stated that the Nagaland Cooperative Policy 2026 shall come into effect from the date of its notification by the State Government and will remain in force up to 2046, subject to periodic review in alignment with the National Cooperation Policy 2025 and subsequent National or State-level policy frameworks.
The Department of Cooperation will issue detailed guidelines, schemes and amendments as required to operationalise this Policy.
Earlier, KG Kenye, Minister for Power & Parliamentary Affairs and Member of the Rules Committee presented the “Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Nagaland Legislative Assembly (Sixth Edition).”
Kuzholuzo Nienu, Chairperson of the Committee on Estimates (2026 – 2027) presented 162nd Report on the Examination of the Estimates of the Department of Horticulture-Mission Organic Value Chain Development of Northeast Region (MOVCD-NER) and 163rd Report on the Examination of the Estimates of the Rural Development Department (NSRLM, SPMRM/NRUM, PMAY-G).
