Winding up his two day tour of areas active in cashew processing, Sahakar Bharati leader Satish Marathe has called for urgent governmental intervention to help revive a cooperative sector which is capable of re-writing the fate of this part of Maharashtra.
Talking to Indian Cooperative on phone Marathe said cashew Processing Co-operatives in Maharashtra have been facing innumerable hardships for past few years. This agro processing sector has huge potential for exports, income and employment generation, he added.
Listing the issues Marathe stated funds were never released in time to the Co-op units, resulting in cost overruns and delayed commissioning of projects. As a consequence these Units need urgent rehabilitation package and support from the State Govt. Presently, these Units are languishing for want of adequate working capital finance and are unable to operate even for 4/5 months in a year, he underlined.
Sahakar Bharati has lent its full support to Cashew growers and their Processing Units and would next week make a detailed presentation to Chandrakant Dada Patil, Co-op Minister to revive this nascent agro processing industry in Maharashtra.
Marathe felt that cashew Processing Co-ops should also seek support of Shekhar Charegaokar, Chairman, Maharashtra State Co Op Council to represent its case to Maharashtra Govt.
Last week Sahakar Bharati had a detailed interaction with the Office Bearers and Directors of Maharashtra State Co Op Cashew Processing Federation Ltd and they are not working together to formulate a Rehab Package jointly.