Main aim of co-ops should be offering support prices to farmers: CM

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel inaugurated a cooperative conference on Monday at Raipur which was not only attended by local cooperators of the state but also by many national-level cooperators.

The event was jointly organized by the Chhattisgarh State Cooperative Bank and National Federation of State Cooperative Bank (Nafscob), in which Kribhco and ICA-AP President Dr. Chandra Pal Singh, Nafscob Chairman Konduru Ravindra Rao, Nafed Chairman Bijiendra Singh, Biscomaun Chairman Dr Sunil Kumar Singh, and others were present.

In his speech, Baghel stressed strengthening the cooperative movement for fulfilling the needs of the farmers and rural people. Co-operative banks have to be made as strong as nationalized banks to achieve the goal, the chief minister said.

“The arrangements should also be made to give loans from these banks for horticulture and cash crop. The biggest objective of the cooperative movement in the country is to provide support prices to the farmers for their produce. Such efforts should be made so that farmers can get remunerative price for their produce”, he added.

At the conference, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel gave away awards to many cooperative societies from across the country for their excellent work in different categories.

Baghel gave away the first prize to Tamil Nadu State Apex Cooperative Bank, bestowed the second award to Andhra Pradesh State Cooperative Bank, Vijayawada, and the third was given to Telangana State Apex Cooperative Bank, Hyderabad for overall performance in the State.

On this occasion, the Chief minister also released Souvenir of Apex Bank and Kisan book published by District Co-operative Central Bank, Raipur.

Quoting the Chief Minister’s statement, the official Twitter handle of CMO Chhattisgarh tweeted, “Chief Minister Shri @bhupeshbaghel in a meeting of the Board of Directors of NAFSCOB said, “cooperatives play a pivotal role in the empowerment of farmers & underprivileged. Our govt has focused on simplification of cooperative procedures so that farmers can easily get credit.”

Later, talking to the Indian Cooperative, ICA AP President Dr Chandra Pal Singh Yadav expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the meeting. “Such active involvement of state CMs augur well for the movement”, said Chandra Pal who is tasked with the job of furthering the co-op movement in the entire Asia Pacific region.

Sunil Singh, Biscomaun Chairman issued a series of tweets on the meeting. He also posed for photo ops along with senior leaders.