The newly elected President of apex co-op body NCUI is coming to its headquarters today on Thursday. Sanghani would like to focus on the day to day business of NCUI. His felicitation and the formalities of introduction with staff members were completed during last visit.
One of the foremost jobs cut out for him is the amalgamation of NCCT with its parent body, for which, Indian Cooperative has learnt, the Ministry has also agreed in principle. The nitty and gritty of the merger is to be worked out, informed sources add.
But with the Union Agriculture Ministry busy resolving farmers agitation, Sanghani has little chance of meeting the Ministers or even senior officers of the Ministry.
NCUI sources say the resolution of the NCCT issue will pave the way for the solution of all other issues including that of reduced grants. They point out that the Ministry withheld NCUI grant in reaction to the latter holding up grant for NCCT. When the two bodies become one, the situation would stand averted automatically, they underline.
Some of the NCUI officers dealing with the Ministry say there is already a softening of the stand of the Ministry towards the NCUI. Now the Ministry officials talk with a greater sense of empathy ever since Sanghani has taken over, they add.
The field projects of NCUI which received a grant of Rs 2.5 crore last year has been revised to Rs 4.5 crore this year. “And we have requested them to give advance of three quarters simultaneously, to which they have responded positively”, said an NCUI official dealing with the matter.
It bears recall that Field Projects are one of the flagship programs of NCUI. The paucity of funds first reduced their number to 43 from 50 and now only 41 projects are active. Each project is supposed to have 6-7 staff members but there are not more than 1 or 2 currently. Most of all, the agri experts attached to each project have deserted in course of time. Sanghani will have a task of reviving the Field Projects to their past glory, said the official.
Field Project is but a smaller assignment before Sanghani whose main job is to usher in the Gujarat model of co-operative at a pan India level, said an insider recalling what the outgoing President Chandra Pal Singh said while welcoming Sanghani to his new job earlier.
This is not possible without focussing on the training component of the cooperative movement, he said emphasizing the importance of merger of NCCT.
Detailing the pre-election consensus among leaders on the issue, informed sources say the academic part of NCCT would be managed by Sahakar Bharati while the administrative part would rest with the NCUI. “This is a deal arrived between Sahakar Bharati and Dileep Sanghani in the presence of Union Minister Narendra Tomar”, they asserted.
