Expanding his “connect co-op campaign”, Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah visited the headquarters of agriculture cooperative NAFED on Thursday in Delhi and inspired its Board members to think big.
Shah not only wanted Nafed to achieve a figure of bigger turnovers in a time bound manner but also wanted Nafed top brass to focus on crop (dalhan) which is in short supply in the country. As in Kribhco, here also, the Minister wanted the co-op body to handhold some PACS and coach them into availing the schemes of the govt.
All the top cooperative leaders including Nafed Chairman Bijendra Singh, Chandra Pal Singh Yadav, Dileepbhai Sanghani, Sunil Kumar Singh, Govt Nominee Ashok Thakur, Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat, Ajay Rai, Mangilal Danga, Managing Director Ritesh Chauhan and others were present on this occasion and heard the Minister with rapt attention.
Nafed top management gave a rousing welcome to Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on his arrival at its headquarters. Despite his busy schedule, Shah spent around two hours at the Nafed headquarters, underlining his commitment towards the cooperative movement, quipped a participant.
During the interaction with the board members of Nafed, Shah asked them to adopt new innovative ideas to increase the turnover of Nafed to 1 lakh crore within seven year.
Soon after the meeting, talking to the Indian Cooperative correspondent, Nafed Vice-Chairman Sunil Kumar Singh said, “It was a great experience and Shah appreciated our work. He also praised the efforts of Nafed in stabilizing the prices of tomatoes and onions”.
“In the meeting, Shah asked Nafed to achieve a business turnover of Rs 1 lakh crore in the span of seven years. We will work to achieve the target in mission mode”, said Sunil who presented a vote of thanks on this occasion.
Sunil further said Nafed should create awareness among the farmers about the crops which the country is importing from other countries. We are buying tur dal and other pulses from other countries to fulfill our domestic needs. We should work on this project, so that the import of these crops can be reduced, he said on the phone.
Nafed’s Government Nominee Ashok Thakur said, “It was a fruitful meeting. The Union Cooperation Minister
has given a vision of Nafed to achieve a business turnover of Rs 1 lakh crore in seven year and will make a strategy to implement it for the betterment of farmers’’, Thakur said.
“Shah asked Nafed to adopt the 200 Primary Agriculture Credit Cooperative Societies (PACS) and help them in giving the benefits to the farmers through the various initiatives launched by the MoC recently”, Thakur added.
Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah further urged to make India self-reliant in pulses. “Nafed should encourage the farmers to grow more pulses to meet the domestic demand of the country, ” said Shah.
The representatives from Nafed also informed Shah about the agri cooperative initiative in raising awareness on Millets. They apprised the Union Cooperative Minister that Nafed launched the first of its kind ‘Millets Experience Centre’ at Dilli Haat, INA, New Delhi.
Soon after the meeting, the Nafed’s official twitter handle thanked Shah for visiting their headquarters. They wrote, “Welcoming Hon’ble @AmitShah to NAFED, as we embark on an incredible journey towards a prosperous and working toward agricultural future. Together, we sow the seeds of success and reap a bountiful harvest for farmers”.
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