Radha Mohan said this while inaugurating the National Conference on Strengthening of Cooperative Education & Training organized by National Council for Cooperative Training in Delhi Tuesday in which Cooperative Ministers of Chattisgarh, Sikkim & Bihar, besides the Secretaries and Registrars of the Cooperative, Chairmen, Managing Directors and CEOs of various States Cooperatives Unions participated.
On the pretext of busy schedule the Minister did not stop to partake of lunch on the occasion. The NCCT had planned it at Le Meridain, a well known five-star in the town.” I have a place in my office where 125 people can easily sit and we can have very meaningful discussions,” the Minister said.
We represent 25 crore people connected to cooperatives and most of them are poor, holding conference in a five-star hotel is not right, Radha Mohan said in the beginning of his speech. A close member of Modi team it must have been awkward for him to address cooperative seminar in a five star hotel, quipped a cooperative leader.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked officials as well as Ministers to cut down on extravagance. Even some of his senior ministers have been blocked from undertaking foreign tours without a meaningful purpose, media reported recently.
Taking a cue, Radha Mohan asked cooperative officials also to look into the grass-roots issues more closely instead of rushing abroad to attend this meeting or that meeting. There is no bar on foreign tours in cooperatives and what you have to do is just wangle an invitation from friends abroad, a cooperator told Indian Cooperative on condition of anonymity.