In keeping with the Prime Minister’s slogan of “Swachh Bharat” the National Cooperative Union of India ( NCUI) has also launched a cleanliness drive in and around the NCUI headquarters located at Siri Fort Road in N Delhi.
Elaborating on the plan, Chief Executive Dr Dinesh said that we are clearing up a mess around NCUI’s Hostel. The Kitchen area and the dining space are up for a complete renovation, he added. NCUI has a decent Hostel of about 100 beds in which cooperators from across the country come and stay whenever the AGM or any other cooperative meetings take place in Delhi.
Majority of national cooperative federations be they IFFCO or Kribhco, Nafed or NAFCUB-hold their AGMs in NCUI only. There is 60 to 70 % occupancy at any point of time but we intend to publicize it in future to attain 100% occupancy, added Ved Prakash Setia, the man in charge of the Hostel.
NCCE-the education wing of NCUI has workshops now lined up for the entire year to keep the Hostel and its mess busy, said Dr Dinesh. We have also renovated the NCUI auditorium in a big way, he added.
Expounding on the details of changes already carried out, he said carpets have been changed, new chairs have replaced the old ones and even the dais has been redone. The poor air-conditioning a great annoyance in the past has
Readers would recall that the NCUI Auditorium is the lone arrangement for any mega cooperative event in the town. Many a time it has hosted meetings of foreign cooperators who had to suffer from poor infrastructural facilities.
Unlike in the past, the NCUI has decided not to involve any outside agency for doing business out of auditorium- which can be booked for a sum by anyone. Perhaps the last experience with a contractor who practically ran way with huge dues is the reason behind this decision.
The fund for these changes has not been drawn from the Education Fund, informed Dr Dinesh rather proudly as the renovations undertaken a couple of years ago had sparked controversy. It was done from the regular fund, he added.
The location of NCUI in posh South Delhi makes it a sought after destination as room- charges are also quite reasonable given the inflation. The ac room charges are Rs 700 per day while non-ac rooms cost Rs 400. IFFCO has earmarked 4 rooms for itself to hosts cooperators connected with the farmers’ cooperative.