A seven-member Nepalese delegation led by Ganesh Prasad Pandeya, Secretary, Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, Government of Nepal visited NCUI last week to explore possibilities of collaboration between NCUI and the Government of Nepal.
Addressing a welcome meeting held in the honour of the foreign delegation, Dr Sudhir Mahajan, Chief Executive, NCUI, said cooperatives like Amul, IFFCO and other cooperatives provided their members and the wider community with necessary services during the coivid pandemic with a view to meeting the challenge posed by the disease.
Mahajan discussed the core activities of the apex body as well as highlighted new initiatives started by NCUI like Skill Development Centre and undertaking a study to assess the contributions of cooperatives to India’s GDP, etc. The chief executive also mentioned about the NCUI HAAT that can be replicated in Nepal.
Speaking on the occasion, Ms Savitri Singh, Executive Director, International Relations, NCUI gave a brief overview of the growth of the cooperative movement in India, and the role of NCUI.
In his remarks the leader of the delegation Ganesh Prasad Pandeya discussed various aspects of the Nepalese cooperative movement arguing cooperatives in Nepal faced a big challenge linking large sections of the people living below poverty line with the cooperative network.
He pointed out that cooperatives find it difficult to forge linkages with production, employment generation, establishing backward and forward linkages of produce of farmers based on the pattern of Amul, technology upgradation, the need for working of cooperatives in accordance with the principles and values, establishing of an e-commerce portal for the products of cooperatives, etc.
Pandeya noted that the contribution of cooperatives to the Nepalese economy is low. Pandeya was keen to forge close ties with the NCUI by signing an MOU in areas of mutual interest.
Several members of the Nepalese delegation also spoke expressing their views about cooperatives and their performance in Nepal.
