UCF Chairman Pramod Kumar Singh created a situation in which a direct exchange of ideas between politicians and cooperators was possible. The occasion was inauguration of newly built secretariat building of Uttrakhand Cooperative Federation (UCF) where Uttrakhand Chief Minister and at least four state ministers rubbed shoulders with cooperators on Thursday.
The participation of national level cooperators did not happen as expected and IFFCO MD Dr U S Awasthi had to fill up the gap. Several top-notch cooperators including NCUI President Chandra Pal Singh Yadav could not make it.
The UCF impressive building was inaugurated by the Uttrakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat at Haridwar bypass road in Dehradun. Rawat was so wowed by its sight that he exclaimed ”I feel proud when I see this wonderful building”.
In his speech, Rawat praised the efforts of the UCF chairman and said cooperative institutions are doing a praiseworthy work especially district cooperative banks providing loans to farmers at a cheaper rate of interest.
Rawat sought the help of the co-operative institutions to lend a helping hand to the state government in its efforts in the field of rural housing. Apart from realising the concept of village farming, the co-operative institutions must also supplement the state government’s efforts in the rural housing sector, Rawat underlined.
Rawat also named IFFCO and praised its efforts. He said at the time of shortage of urea or fertilizer in the state, IFFCO and Dr U S Awasthi proactively solve the crisis.
Making best of his presence he urged IFFCO MD to give Soil Health cards to farmers. ” I urge Dr U S Awasthi and his
team to distribute soil health cards to the farmers of Udhamsingh Nagar and Haridwar, the chief minister said.
Speaking on the occasion IFFCO MD Dr U S Awasthi promised to upgrade the technological standard of co-op societies of the state. He said “In the field of technology IFFCO will bear all the expenses incurred in the installation of hardware as well as software in the Uttrakhand Cooperative Federation (UCF).”
Awasthi also expressed his warm thanks to the team of UCF for strengthening the State cooperative movement. “I have a long and old relation with Uttrakhand when I was at PPCL”, he added
He said ” IFFCO had started a business worth Rs 5 lakh when only 57 societies were our members and now we are the owner of assets worth crores and all the credit goes to the board members and other members”. Awasthi praised the Uttrakhand government for giving a chance to cooperators to work freely.
Uttrakhand State Cooperative Federation Chairman Parmod Singh who was the hero of the show traced the history of the cooperative organization. Singh said ”we had started the UCF with a small amount of Rs 11,000” he said.
”At that time IFFCO asked its member institutions to increase the share capital; we took loan from the bank and bought a share of Rs 30 crore. Underlining the importance of his decision he said in a short period IFFCO had given back Rs 66 crore in the form of dividend to us”.
Uttrakhand State Cooperative Minister Yashpal Arya said ”in the cooperative sector the UCF is doing a wonderful job under the leadership of Singh who has always been active. We have to improve the condition of PACS societies and self help groups. “We have to come forward if we want to transform the state cooperative movement” he said.
Uttrakhand Forest Minister Dinesh Aggarwal said ” the cooperative movement of Gujarat, Maharashtra is very strong and I urge all of you to contribute your efforts in building a strong cooperative movement in Uttrakhand as well , he remarked.
Uttrakhand Panchayat Raj and Home minister Pritam Singh assured all support in making the cooperative movement strong in the state.
Besides, IFFCO MD, GM, Yogendra Kumar, District Cooperative Banks Chairman, Dehradun State Cooperative Bank chairman Dr K S Rana, Udhamsingh Nagar Cooperative Bank Chairman Subash Behar, Nainital District Cooperative Bank Chairman Rajendra Singh Negi, farmers, UCF, officials, IFFCO, Director and others were present on the occasion.
