NCUI President and an influential co-operator from Gujarat, Dileep Sanghani is organizing combined AGMs of several co-op organizations in Amreli on Sunday. To cut costs, Sanghani has been doing this every year but this time the event has acquired special significance due to the participation of Union Minister Amit Shah in the event.
Talking to the Indian Cooperative a week ago, a beaming Sanghani had informed that Union Minister Shah had agreed to attend the event. There would be more than half a dozen co-op bodies which will attend the event and hold their AGMs separately at the venue, he added.
The joint holding of AGMs not only helps each co-op cut the cost but also is a boon for members who are saved from the hassle of multiple travels. There is a chance that this time around even co-ops not based in Amreli may also join the event, said a source.
Besides, Amit Shah who has launched several new schemes ever since he took over, will also have a chance to interact with grassroots co-operators and convey them the message on behalf of the new ministry. It is no secret that what is decided in the Ministry, takes ages to reach to local co-operators.
PACS is one such subject which operates at grassroots level and for which Shah and his team have made an ambitious plan. Apprising co-operators of exploiting the new provision of PACs would certainly crop up in the meeting.
Shah is coming to Amreli just after attending an important meeting of state co-op ministers in Delhi where he and his team solicited the support of states in furthering the co-op movement across the country. His grand co-op vision requires support from grassroots level and the Amreli meeting could be understood in this context.
The New Ministry is working on several ideas such as National Cooperation Policy, National Cooperative Database, New Proposed Schemes of Ministry of Cooperation like Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) in every Panchayat, Export of Agro-based and other products, promotion and marketing of Organic Products, expansion of Co-operatives to New Areas and setting up of a co-op university, among others.
