Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah said that in a tribute to “Utkal Gourav” Madhusudan Das, the pioneer of the cooperative movement in Odisha, the Institute of Cooperative Management (ICM), one of the 20 units of the National Council for Cooperative Training (NCCT), has been renamed as the Madhusudan Institute of Cooperative Management. The NCCT is promoted by the Ministry of Cooperation, Government of India.
Madhusudan Das is celebrated as the torchbearer of India’s cooperative movement. He set a historic precedent by establishing the country’s first multifaceted cooperative enterprise, The Cuttack Cooperative Store, on 11th June, 1898.
He also founded the export-oriented venture Utkal Tannery, which was run on cooperative lines, considered a landmark initiative in its time.
Drawing inspiration from him, Agriculture Credit Cooperative Societies were later set up in Charchika, Suvarnap and Barput regions of Banki in Odisha. His vision laid the foundation for the spread of cooperative ideals in eastern India and beyond.
Meanwhile, with the establishment of the Tribhuvan Sahkari University (TSU), the Central Government has invited State Governments to propose colleges and institutes in their respective states for affiliation to TSU, in line with the Ministry’s push to strengthen cooperative education and training across the country.