Involving youth in rural areas with coops is key: ICA-AP President

Dr Chandra Pal Singh Yadav, President, International Cooperative Alliance (Asia-Pacific) (ICA-AP) and Chairman, KRIBHCO, said that popularizing the cooperative model amongst the rural youth is very important to strengthen the cooperative movement in the country. “Ways have to be visualized so that youth in the villages become the members of Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACS)”. The cooperative movement cannot move ahead if the youth do not participate in the movement, he said.

Dr Yadav was speaking at a felicitation function organized on May 25 by the National Federation of Film and Fine Cooperatives (NAFFAC) to honour him for being elected as President, ICA-AP. NAFFAC was established in 1985 to strengthen the image-building of the cooperatives through effective communication strategies like film-making, documentaries, etc. The function was attended by key representatives of NCUI, IFFCO and other cooperative organizations.

Lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi for creating a separate Ministry of Cooperation, Dr Yadav said that through Sahkar se Samriddhi, the government was serious to usher in socio-economic prosperity through cooperatives. He called upon NAFFAC to popularize success stories of cooperatives through a strong media approach. He expressed thanks to all for their support due to which he could be elected as President of ICA-AP.

Dileep Sanghani, President, NCUI, was also facilitated on the occasion. He said that social media could be an effective tool for image-building of cooperatives, in which the role of NAFFAC could be pivotal. He said that the concept of cooperatives was above the distinctions of caste and creed. “Cooperative is a big unifying concept,” he said. Dr Sudhir Mahajan, Chief Executive, NCUI was also present on the occasion.

Earlier, Arti Bisaria, Working Chairperson, NAFFAC, expressed thanks to all cooperative organizations, including NCUI, for their financial support to NAFFAC in promoting the cooperatives. She outlined a roadmap for making NAFFAC self-sustainable in the long run. Bisaria is being nominated by NCUI for the ICA-AP Women Committee, where she has championed the cause of women's participation in cooperatives at the global level.