Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu assured cooperators in the capital of Prime Minister’s unqualified support to the cooperative sector. Prabhu was delivering the 18th Vaikunth Bhai Mehta Memorial Lecture organised by National Cooperative Union of India.
“If you want to pay tributes to Shri Vaikunth Bhai Mehta you will have to work together and make the cooperative movement a success. There is need to adopt an India Model of Development, in which cooperatives play an important role because of their grass-roots presence”, said Suresh Prabhu. Cooperatives have to play their role in “Digital India” and “Make in India” launched by the Modi government as well, he added.
He said nothing could beat cooperatives and assured that PM Narendra Modi will support cooperatives.
He said cooperatives have their reach in each and every field and we have to encourage them further. Praising IFFCO he said the cooperative giant successfully produces and distributes fertilizers through a vast network of cooperatives and that is why it enjoys a position of pride and prestige in the country. He said cooperatives needed to collaborate with SHGs and corporates for effective functioning.
NCUI President Dr. Chandra Pal Singh Yadav, said there was a need to develop a Parliamentarians’ Forum for Cooperative Development under the guidance of Mr. Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister for Railways, who is himself a cooperator. He urged that issues and challenges facing cooperatives must be addressed by parliamentarians, he said.
He further said the High Powered Committee set up by the RBI on Urban Cooperative Banks recommending conversion of cooperative banks into private companies would destroy the cooperative identity, and he requested the Minister to ensure the Government did not take any action in this regard.
He informed the minister that the NCUI has become a co-petitioner with the govt on the 97th Constitutional Amendment in the Supreme Court. The amendment has been a non-starter as the Gujarat High Court stayed its implementation. The matter is pending in the Supreme Court. He also said Direct Tax Code Bill would harm the growth of cooperatives, as cooperatives are not profit-making bodies like corporates, and imposing income tax on them would definitely harm their growth, he noted.
NCUI Vice president, Dr. Bijender Singh proposed vote of thanks.
