Confederation of NGOs of Rural India organized a National Symposium on ‘Cooperative Governance: Opportunities Ahead’ in collaboration with Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) and IRMA on Tuesday in Delhi, in which the National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) President Dileep Sanghani was the Chief Guest.
A day-long program concluded with many sessions which were addressed by representatives from the cooperative sector including Nafed MD Sanjeev Chadha, Vamnicom Director Hema Yadav, OSD to Amit Shah, Dr K K Tripathy, government top officials, Mohan Kanda (IAS) Retd. Chairman, CNRI and other eminent personalities. While some prominent people were present on the spot, many were connected virtually.
On the occasion speakers spoke at length on different subjects related to the cooperative sector. Some advocated the need of formulating the National Cooperative Policy, few of them suggested making the PACCs vibrant and effective and many of them talked about the Amul model of dairy development and role of co-ops generally in the economy.
In his virtual address from Amreli, Gujarat, NCUI President Dileep Sanghani said cooperatives are playing an important role in making India Self Reliant, and in this regard, the apex body of cooperatives is coming out with new schemes. Highlighting several initiatives, Sanghani added that to make women and small co-ops self-reliant a national platform such as the ”NCUI Haat” has been launched at the apex body’s premises to enable them to sell their hand-made products.
“Cooperatives have many success stories and even White and Green Revolution were ushered in by them. Co-ops have also helped the nation at the time of corona and many of them contributed funds towards the PM Care fund and the state CMs’ relief fund”, he added.
Vamnicom former Director and OSD to Amit Shah, Dr K K Tripathy laid emphasis on the new National Cooperative Policy and the 97th Constitutional Amendment, which was struck down by the apex court of the country. “There is an urgent need to gather the accurate data of co-ops. NCUI is collecting data but there is a need to check that the data collected is sufficient”, Tripathy said.
“The government is thinking about the computerization of PACCs and plans to increase the number of PACCs by three lakh in five years. In India there are 98k primary level societies out of which only 64k are financially sound. There is a need to increase the membership base and PACCs should diversify their business in other activities also”, he asserted.
The other speakers including Suresh Mishra, Chair Professor, Consumer Affairs and Coordination, Centre for Consumer Studies, IIPA thanked the government for constituting the new ministry for co-ops. Dr R B Singh, FNAAS, Chairman Advisory Board informed about the Amul model of dairy development and advocated for transparency in the working of Co-ops.
CNRI, Secretary General, Binod Anand anchored and coordinated the event.
