Vamnicom holds many programs in co-op week; ULCCS’s Kishor concludes

Vamnicom celebrated the 70th Cooperative week from 14 – 20 Nov 2023 with much enthusiasm and cooperative centric activities during the entire week. This year’s theme of cooperative week was “Role of Cooperatives in Making India $ 5 Trillion Economy and Sustainable Development Goals”.

The Cooperative Week Celebrations commenced on 14 Nov 2023 with a heartfelt tribute to Vaikunth Mehta, a luminary in the cooperative movement followed by cooperative flag hoisting by Mr R. K. Menon, Registrar of Vamnicom.

The celebrations started with a presentation of “Recent Developments in Cooperatives” in Shivneri Auditorium packed with an audience. A presentation was made by Dr A. K. Asthana, Associate Professor on 54 major initiatives taken by the Ministry of Cooperation for strengthening the cooperative movement in the country.

Asthana highlighted 28 major initiatives which were completed so far by the ministry of Cooperation. The detailed information for multipurpose primary cooperative societies, new cooperation policy, national cooperative data bank, 3 new multi-state cooperative societies in area of export, Seed and organic produce was highlighted.

During the function a video was also shown to the audience which marked the alignment of all sectors of cooperatives to make their contributions towards achieving the $5 trillion economy GDP set by the Prime Minister. Relief given by Hon Home Minister and Cooperative Minister Mr Amit Shah to the urban Cooperative banks, sugar cooperatives was also highlighted.

Dr Hema Yadav, Director of Vamnicom delivered a comprehensive presentation on the revitalization of non-credit cooperatives and financial inclusion, covering various key aspects on 15 Nov 2023. She began by delving deeper into the cooperative model, highlighting its significance in addressing societal challenges. Talking about the problems faced by cooperatives, she emphasized the need for a new policy to tackle the issues effectively. The presentation included insights into the preamble of cooperative initiatives and shedding light on emerging sectors where cooperatives can play a pivotal role.

Notably, Dr. Yadav underscored the development model of cooperatives, citing the staggering statistics of 8.5 lakh cooperatives and 29 crore members, making it the world’s largest in terms of membership. Exploring the ecosystem of cooperatives, Dr. Yadav revealed a division where 20% are credit-based and 80% are non-credit based.

She illustrated the capital management process in cooperatives, using the example case of AMUL. Highlighting operation areas in need of revitalization, the presentation emphasized 54 initiatives by cooperatives.

On 16 Nov 2023 Mr Nachiket Pohekar, Chief Technology officer of Cosmos Bank was invited to deliver a keynote on the theme of this particular day” Adoption and Upgradation of Technology for Digitalization of Cooperatives. Mr. Nikhil Yadav, Founder and CEO of Krishi Shastra Agrotech, Sarvesh Ghangalle, CEO and Co-founder of The Farms and Mr. Suvo Sarkar, CEO of SNRASSYSTEMS Startup Venturists were invited to share their experience on the theme of day “Ease of Doing Business” on 17 Nov 2023.

On the concluding day of the cooperative week on 20 Nov 2023 an online lecture of Mr Kishor Kumar, Chief Project Coordinator of Uralungal Labour Cooperative Society of Kerala was arranged who addressed the gathering. Mr. Kishore Kumar’s presentation emphasized the pivotal role of training and education, innovation, technology, and government cooperation in achieving sustainable development goals.