Lucknow, Dec. 22 -- Less than 15 months before the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday announced a major relief for the small and marginal farmers by reducing the interest rate on UP Cooperative Rural Development Bank loans from 11.5% to 6%. The chief minister, who inaugurated the Yuva Sahakar Sammelan (Youth Cooperative Conference) and UP Cooperative Expo 2025 here, accused the previous government of promoting a 'one district, one mafia' system, which "devastated" the cooperative sector and trapped farmers' capital. "Through sustained efforts, Rs.4,700 crore of farmers' money has been recovered. With the elimination of mafia influence, cooperative banks are once again functioning efficiently and expanding. The state is now moving decisively towards a "one district, one cooperative bank" framework, with the process of establishing a new district cooperative bank in Balrampur already underway," he said at the programme organised at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan here as part of the International Year of Cooperatives 2025. Drawing attention to the situation before 2017, the chief minister said, "Sixteen district cooperative banks had been declared defaulters and had even lost their RBI licences. Today, cooperative banks in the state are not ailing institutions but financially sound entities contributing to the prosperity of farmers and members, while actively supporting government schemes." Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the central government constituted a separate ministry of cooperation that was earlier a small department under the ministry of agriculture, he said. As the country's first Union minister for cooperation, Amit Shah has taken the cooperative movement to new heights, he added. "The United Nations has declared 2025 as the International Year of Cooperatives. Cooperation is a pillar of mutual trust, social equality, and self-reliance," he said. "Nearly one-fourth of the world's cooperative societies are in India, with over 8.44 lakh societies and more than 30 crore members forming a powerful collective force," he said. The International Year of Cooperatives was launched on January 26 with a 'Run for Cooperation'. At present, district cooperative banks have over two lakh bank accounts with deposits totalling Rs 550 crore, he said. Digitalisation, e-governance and transparent policies have strengthened accountability and good governance in the cooperative sector. Through Primary Agriculture Credit Society (PACS) the membership of multipurpose primary rural cooperative societies has expanded, financial inclusion has deepened, agriculture and rural development have gained momentum, and the cooperative movement has been further reinforced, the chief minister said. He said the state government has provided interest-free loans of up to Rs 10 lakh to PACS and efforts are underway to raise this limit to Rs 15 lakh. The Uttar Pradesh State Cooperative Bank has secured 'A' category status from NABARD and is currently operating through 40 branches across the state. In 2024-25 alone, the Cooperative Bank recorded a profit exceeding Rs.162.02 crore, he said. PACS have conducted business worth Rs 6,400 crore, earning profits of Rs 191 crore. Former Union minister Suresh Prabhu, minister of state (independent charge) for cooperatives JPS Rathore, Uttar Pradesh Jal Shakti minister Swatantra Dev Singh, minister of state for social welfare (independent charge) Asim Arun were present at the event....