Be it NCCF Chairman or MD, Board members or employees, they had not imagined that the Union Minister Amit Shah would draw a map for the future of NCCF on such a grand scale. Shah not only talked of increasing its business multifold but also asked it to get ready to play a big role in the world’s largest cold storage being rolled out in the country at the behest of the Prime Minister.
“You can quote me officially that the Minister gave us more than we expected”, said Vishal Singh to this correspondent. “He has also asked us to get a technical study done for storage of onions on a very large scale. He also goaded us into going online to connect to PACS sooner than later”, said an excited Chairman soon after the Shah’s visit.
Concluding, NCCF Chairman Vishal Singh said, “Over all it was a great experience and Shah appreciated our work. He also praised the efforts of NCCF in stabilizing the prices of tomatoes and onions”. “In the meeting, Shah asked the NCCF team to achieve a business turnover of Rs 50,000 crore till 2028. We will work to achieve the target in mission mode, Singh added.
Given Shah’s scale of thinking on NCCF, it would be no surprise if the apex consumer co-op body moves into a swanky office of its own in the near future, saying goodbye to the landlord NCUI which houses it today. Several people connected to Shah reiterated the fact that Shah does his homework thoroughly before making a statement. He even asked NCCF if it is ready to export onions to Bangladesh right now.
Meeting the board members in the boardroom of NCDC, Shah motivated them to achieve a business turnover of Rs 50,000 crore till 2028. Shah not only asked the NCCF team to work in mission mode in achieving the prescribed target but also assured to help the NCCF in procuring maize for ethanol production. On this occasion, the Minister also appreciated the role being played by NCCF in controlling the prices of food commodities like onion, chana dal etc and providing to the consumers at the stabilized rates through mobile vans.
All the top cooperative leaders including NCCF Chairman Vishal Singh, Vice-Chairman Yashpal Singh Yadav, NCUI President Dileepbhai Sanghani, Bijendra Singh, Sunil Kumar Singh, Ajay Rai, Virendra Singh, NCCF MD Anice Joseph Chandra and others were present on this occasion and heard the Minister with rapt attention. During the meeting, Union Ministry of Cooperation Secretary Gyanesh Kumar was also present.
The NCCF top management gave a rousing welcome to Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on his arrival. Despite his tight schedule owing to elections in many states, Shah spent around one hour at the NCDC headquarters, underlining his commitment towards the cooperative movement, quipped a participant.
In his interaction with the board members of NCCF, Shah asked them to adopt new innovative ideas to increase the turnover of NCCF to 50,000 crores till 2028.
On Shah’s visit, NCUI Chairman Dileepbhai Sanghai said, “The meeting was very fruitful. The Union Cooperation Minister has motivated the NCCF team to think bigger. In recent years, the NCCF financial position was deteriorating but with the creation of a new Ministry of Cooperation under the leadership of Amitbhai Shah, things are getting better and NCCF is now functioning well”.
Sanghani further added that Shah asked the NCCF to 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 fulfil our domestic needs. We should work on this project, so that the import of these crops can be reduced”, he added.
Earlier, Shah had visited the head offices of IFFCO, KRIBHCO, NAFED and NCUI in Delhi. It bears recalling that last month NCCF organized its 53rd AGM where it was revealed that the total sale of NCCF stood at Rs 2811 crore and it earned a net profit of Rs 29.25 crore as on 31st March 2023.
