Lauding cooperatives in general and IFFCO in particular for providing employment to millions of people in the country Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister Radha Mohan Singh said govt is committed to strengthen cooperatives in the country.
Singh has said this at Golden Jubilee celebrations of Cooperative Institution, IFFCO in Motihari, on Friday. Agriculture Minister also praised the Managing Director of IFFCO, Dr. U.S. Awasthi and his team for the best efforts and assured every possible assistance to the IFFCO.
Singh has said that IFFCO came into existence with only 57 cooperative societies in the year 1967-68 but, today, it is one of the largest cooperative societies of India. Now, it has more than 36,000 cooperative societies. Its business is spread over from general insurance to rural telecommunication apart from manufacturing and sale of manure.
Agriculture Minister said that through its vast network, IFFCO is rendering its services to about 5.5 crores of farmers. IFFCO has extended its international involvement through important memorandum of understanding and agreements for supply of raw materials to many international fertilizer industries.
He said that IFFCO is working for the prosperity of the farmers after providing environment friendly and real time reliable, high
quality agricultural products and services. IFFCO is implementing several schemes and programmes for their welfare.
Singh has said that cooperative societies have provided inputs like credit, fertilizer, seed and have established themselves in many fields of Indian economy such as dairy, banking, sugar, fertilizer, marketing, handloom, fisheries and housing.
Agriculture Minister said that there are more than 249 million of members of cooperatives in India in which 6.10 lakh cooperative societies and more than 71% rural families are the members of the cooperatives. Cooperatives have provided direct and indirect employment to about 23.86 millions of people.
Shri Singh hoped on this occasion that the production of the farmers will increase from the profitable schemes of IFFCO and it will help to get them additional income. The Minister said that cooperative societies should be made strong democratically and by providing occupational services to the farm labourers, we will have to make the rural people strong.
In a series of tweets Dr U S Awasthi thanked the Minister for participating in IFFCO Golden Jubilee celebrations. Awasthi is currently on tour of Bihar and he was in Motihari after covering Patna and Muzaffarpur.
