In a bid to strengthen the cooperative training system at the district and village level, the newly created cooperative department is focusing on improving the infrastructure-related conditions of Junior Cooperative Training Centres (JCTCs).
In this regard, a meeting had been called at the Agriculture Ministry which was presided over by then Union Cooperation Secretary Dr. D K Singh and was attended by senior officials of the cooperation ministry including Additional Secretary Vijay Kumar, Joint Secretary Abhay Kumar, OSD to Amit Shah Dr. K K Tripathy and others.
Sharing the details related to the meeting one of the senior officials of the cooperation department said, “The meeting was mainly focused on doing an evaluation of JCTCs which are set up at different state cooperative unions of the country for organizing training programs for members”
” There are 116 JCTCs in India and the majority of them are in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. These centers are not in states like Uttarakhand, Punjab and Jharkhand, and some Union Territories but with the help of ongoing study, the cooperation department will identify the areas for the opening of training centers. The in-depth assessment of JCTCs had been given to NCUI but the apex body has outsourced it to AFC India”, said a ministry official.
It is being reported that the government is providing a grant to NCUI under the CSISAC scheme of around Rs 1 crore which is being circulated to the State Cooperative Union for organizing the training program through the JCTCs according to requirements.
The objective of the study is to collect and compile views/suggestions of office bearers or members of PACs, officials of JCTC, state cooperative union, NCUI, Ministry of cooperation, etc. “Once the study is completed, there may be some revision of the budget for programs of JCTCs as well as to improve the infrastructure and training equipment in JCTCs after the in-depth assessment”, an official added.
Meanwhile, in most of his speeches, Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah mentioned the need for training members associated with cooperatives.