In the Rajya Sabha, one of the members wanted to know if the education and training can remove cases of malpractices in cooperatives, commonly reported in media.
In the Lok Sabha, answer for a question regarding the number of viable cooperatives with special emphasis on the state of Bihar was sought.
National Cooperative Union of India, the apex body and the custodian of cooperative data was thrown into a tizzy as soon as a fax from the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperative landed at its desk.
Absence of computerization and a dwindling as well as not-so-trained manpower have robbed it off any sophisticated working. Nevertheless, sos massages were sent across the states to find out the details.
Later, talking to Indian Cooperative NCUI Chief Executive informed that there are about 6 lakhs cooperatives in the country in which Bihar alone claim a share of 36,402 societies. The state has about 10 thousand Co-operative Federations and 4784 large cooperatives.
Also, the Minister of State for Agriculture, Shri Mohanbhai Kundaria informed the House that cooperative education is essential for the success of cooperatives. Cooperative education brings awareness about cooperative functioning, their roles, duties and responsibilities and the requirement of the members’ active participation to develop cooperatives.
He also informed that National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) which is an apex body representing the entire cooperative organizations in the country with the mandate of organizing cooperative education and training programmes.
NCUI also spreads cooperative education through its Education Center in Delhi and 43 cooperative education Field Projects spread over whole of India particularly in cooperatively under-developed States, he added.
Through these Cooperative education field projects, different modules of cooperative education are delivered to the primary agricultural societies which form the backbone of the cooperative movement in India, Kundaria said.