Uttarakhand State Congress President and former Cabinet Minister Pritam Singh recently called a meeting of cooperators of the state to discuss the problem posed by the BJP Government in Dehradun grabbing the cooperative movement in Uttarakhand.
Singh accused the government of weakening cooperative societies and undermining the very basis of the cooperative movement. He added he will soon launch a state wide agitation on the issue.
A veteran cooperator from Uttarakhand Pramod Kumar Singh who was also present on the occasion said “ the elections to cooperative societies are likely to be held and the BJP government is trying to put their own men in positions of power with a view to denying cooperative societies their power and independence”. ”
“The state BJP government has decided to celebrate the International Cooperative Day till 15th July but actually they are calling special Annual General Meetings of cooperative societies to change their names”, said Singh who is also on the board of IFFCO as well as NCUI.
Singh urged the BJP government to revive defunct PACS in hill areas and preserve their autonomous character as per the recommendations of the Vaidhyanathan committee.
Pramod who is also the chairman of Uttarakhand State Cooperative Union said there are about 750 Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies having more than 5 lakh members. There are four apex level cooperative societies and 10 District Central Cooperative Banks in the state.
Dehradun State Cooperative Bank Chairman Dr K S Rana, Udhamsingh Nagar State Cooperative Bank Chairman Subash Behar, KRIBHCO delegate Susheel Rathi and several other senior congress leaders were present on the occasion.
