Preparations are afoot for the eighth edition of Cooperative Congress in Mundayad indoor stadium in Kunnur. The Congress is slated to be inaugurated tomorrow on February 10 by the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, said Kerala Cooperative Minister Kadakampally Surendran in a media interaction on Thursday.
Nearly 3000 selected delegates from the cooperative sector across the states will participate in the three-day event. Kerala Cooperative Minister Kadakampally Surendran said several lawmakers, cooperative leaders and experts will attend the conference.
The conference themed around ‘forward through diversification’ will deliberate about ways and means of strengthening the cooperative sector in Kerala. Surendran promised to come up with a new co-op policy aimed at freeing co-ops from unbridled political interference.
This is for the first time that the event is coming to Kannur. The suggestions and inputs coming out from the Congress will be used to prepare a draft of co-op policy for the state. The draft prepared would be introduced in the state Assembly, assured the Minister.
Kerala co-ops have been in news as the govt intends to set up the Kerala Cooperative Bank by merging all district cooperative banks and state cooperative banks. Many feel the merger will prove disastrous for the co-op movement.
Meanwhile, some opposition leaders have accused the leftists of hijacking the meet to promote their own partisan interests. Co-op Congress also attracted media attention with the Opposition accusing the organizers of collecting donations employing force.