The Ministry of Cooperation has completed its five regional consultations on the National Cooperative Training Framework (NCTF), with the concluding meeting for the Eastern Zone held in Patna, Bihar, on Wednesday.
The consultation was organised jointly by the Ministry and Tribhuvan Sahkari University at the D.N.S. Regional Institute of Cooperative Management (RICM), Patna. Representatives from Bihar attended in person, while participants from Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal joined virtually.
The meeting was attended by Prof. (Dr.) S. P. Singh, Vice-Chancellor of Tribhuvan Sahkari University; Dr. Mukesh Kumar, Director, Ministry of Cooperation; the Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Bihar, and other senior stakeholders.
Discussions focused on training needs, competency-based learning, certification, entrepreneurship, digital skills, PACS diversification and strengthening institutional capacity across the cooperative sector. Representatives from NABARD, NCDC, IFFCO, COMFED, JEEViKA, DCCBs, training institutions and primary cooperative societies also contributed.
The recommendations from all five regional consultations will feed into the draft NCTF, which will be consolidated at National Consultation II in New Delhi on November 4, 2026. The initiative aims to build a stronger, skilled and future-ready cooperative workforce in line with the vision of “Sahkar Se Samriddhi.”






