The global major cooperative from India, IFFCO and the National Productivity Council (NPC) under the Ministry of Commerce, have resolved to join hands to promote innovation and productivity in cooperatives. This was decided in a high-level meeting held at NPC head office on Tuesday. The meeting was addressed by Dileepbhai Sanghani IFFCO Chairman, Sundeep Nayak NPC Director General, Dr US Awasthi IFFCO MD and Yogendra Kumar Director Marketing IFFCO.
Speaking after the meeting, Sanghani said that NPC has been mandated to bring about decisive improvement in the MSME ecosystem in the country. Cooperatives form a major group within MSME. It is not only MSME type of cooperatives but the entire cooperatives’ ecosystem has to deliver outcomes in a more productive manner, Sanghani added. He said the Prime Minister’s goal of realizing Five Trillion Dollar Indian economy could be achieved if we also make the cooperatives innovative and more productive. Partnership between IFFCO and NPC is in the right direction.
Sundeep Nayak said that rejuvenating the productivity movement towards Atmanirbhar Bharat was the motto of NPC and its network of 12 regional offices and 27 Local Productivity Councils across the country would be geared towards assisting the cooperatives even at the primary levels. NPC has embarked upon a number of initiatives including a DPIIT funded Centre of Excellence Bharat Industry 4.0 for innovation at NPC. Women, youth and digital cooperatives in rural settings would be a focus.
IFFCO and NPC would also focus on developing a roadmap for collaborative activities for boosting productivity improvement across India. The talent pool of NPC and IFFCO their affiliated systems in India and abroad are expected to be geared towards the farmers.
India is the 5th largest manufacturer in the world, with a total manufacturing value added of over US$ 420 billion in 2016. It ranks 45th in economic complexity. Over the decades, India’s manufacturing sector has grown by more than 7% per annum on an average. India’s sustained increases in GDP can only come from an increase in the overall level of productivity and broad basing participation of women in economic activities.
Agricultural productivity, including the horticulture and livestock / dairy sectors need concerted focus on improvement of productivity and innovative technologies. Skilled youth and professional management in cooperatives are expected to be a game changer. 94% of Indian farmers are members of at least one cooperative. The Government of India has chalked out a well-planned program to computerize the Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) and set up at least one PACS in every panchayat. IFFCO and NPC joint activity is to be seen in this context as well.
The productivity movement in India, launched in the 1950s and spearheaded by the National Productivity Council, has contributed to India’s socio-economic development in a big way. The next phase and an acceleration in the productivity movement is needed more now than ever before, especially in the context of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
