Inaugurating the 69th All India Cooperative Week, organized by the National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI), BL Verma, Union Minister of State for Cooperation, said that the government was committed to increasing the number of members of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) from 23 crore to 70 crore.
He said that the government was coming up with model by-laws for PACS for them to provide all types of loans to the farmers, besides short-term loans.
The theme of this year’s Cooperative Week celebrations is ‘India@75; Growth of Cooperatives and Future Ahead’.
On the occasion of the inauguration of the Cooperative Week, Verma also inaugurated the Cooperative Fair, wherein more than 70 stalls of various cooperative organizations, including Amul, IFFCO, NAFED, TRIFED and Bhuttico Weavers Coop Society, have put up their stalls.
Verma said that the government wanted to set up cooperatives in every village. He said that a provision of Rs 2,516 crore for the digitalization of PACS will increase their working efficiency. He said that a common software was being developed for district cooperative banks, state cooperative banks, and NABARD through which the procurement operations of PACS will improve, and they would ensure more transparency in their functioning. He further said that the government was soon to announce the National Cooperative Policy, which will make the cooperatives all-inclusive.
The government is setting up an export house for coops through Amul which will help in the certification of organic produce of the farmers, said Verma. The farmers will not only get a fair price for the produce through it, but their produce will also get an international platform to sell their products. Verma said that the government should train not only a few officials of the cooperative sector but also lower-level officials, for which the government was forming a cooperative university.
Shivadasan Nair, Vice President, NCUI, said that after the formation of the Cooperative Ministry, the cooperative movement has gained new momentum. He said that with the government now fully supporting cooperatives, the cooperatives should utilize every opportunity to show their potentialities and get benefited. Highlighting the work of NCUI, he stated that for strengthening the cooperative movement, the government should strengthen NCUI.
A video message of Suresh Prabhu, Chairman, Committee on New Cooperative Policy, constituted by the government, was read on the occasion.
Dr Sudhir Mahajan, Chief Executive, NCUI, said that NCUI had come up with various initiatives in accordance with the government’s objective of Sahkar se Samriddhi. These initiatives are: NCUI Haat, a unique selling platform for the products of lesser-known coops/SHGs, setting up of incubation centre to create employment opportunities for poor and deprived sections of the society with emphasis on technology, forging collaborations with reputed organizations like NIESBUD, Indraprastha University, German Development Corporation, Vyakti Vikas Foundation, etc.
Verma also inaugurated on the occasion NCUI publications The Cooperator and Deepshikha, and NCHF Bulletin, published by the National Cooperative Housing Federation of India. A statue of the late Choudhary Brahm Prakash, the first CM of Delhi whose contribution to the cooperative movement was pioneering, was unveiled.