The apex body of cooperatives in India NCUI celebrated the International Day of Cooperatives at its headquarters in Delhi on Saturday. “Choose cooperative Choose equality” was the theme for this year and several speakers spoke underlining its importance.
Speaking on the occasion Dr. Bijendra Singh, Vice President, NCUI said that people themselves must take initiatives to promote equality by helping the poor instead of depending on the government support. He also said that cooperatives which are people-centric organisations with their wide network and reach can play an important role in tacking hunger.
International Day of Cooperatives celebrated by International Cooperative Alliance and United Nations is organised on 1st Saturday of every year in the month of July. The event was attended by key representatives of national/international level cooperative organisations.
Dr. J.N.L. Shrivastava Managing Trustee, IFFCO Foundation speaking on the occasion said that cooperatives can play an important role in promoting gender-equality. He lamented that women do not have important say in the decision-making of cooperatives as many of the cooperatives don’t have two women in their Board. He said that IFFCO Foundation has recently conducted various women leadership programmes so as to bring women on parity 
with men in the leadership role. Dr. Shrivastava further emphasised on the need to involve youth participation in the cooperatives.
Speaking on the occasion Shri B.K. Mishra, Managing Director, FISHCOFED said that fisheries is an important sector of the cooperatives for weaker sections, for which equality is very important. However, he lamented that the government lays more emphasis on the agriculture sector than the fishery sector. He also said that cooperatives are not given due recognition in the planning process of the country, and also by the international organisations. He drew attention to the fact that 1/3rd of India’s population is still poor, and here cooperatives can play an important role. He emphasized on the need to involve youth in cooperatives through formation of youth cooperatives.
Ms. Mallika Kumar, Faculty Member, Shri Ram College of Commerce said that creating awareness amongst the people for cooperatives can have an important role in promoting equality. Savitri Singh also spoke on the importance of cooperative as a tool to achieve equality.
Dr. Dinesh, Chief Executive, NCUI summarised the main points of the speakers, and extended vote of thanks.
On the occasion, a Painting Competition was organised for the children till the age of 15 on themes related to cooperative. The students of Shri Ram College of Commerce were also present in the function, and all the speakers praised about their presence on the occasion.
–With inputs supplied by Sanjay Verma, Dy. Director(NCUI) and our correspondent Rohit Gupta.
