Shri Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, inaugurated the 17th Indian Cooperative Congress at New Delhi

2024-04-28 03:13:54 Events / Trade Shows

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Inaugurating the 17th Indian Cooperative Congress, organized by National Cooperative Union of India, Narendra Modi, Hon?ble Prime Minister of India said that during the Amrit Kaal, the role of the cooperative sector in the growth of villages and farmers is going to be big. ?Sarkar and Sahakar will together provide double strength to the dream of the Viksit Bharat?. Union Minister for Home Affairs and Cooperation, Amit Shah; Union Minister of State for Cooperation, B.L. Verma; Chairman of International Cooperative Alliance for Asia Pacific, Dr. Chandrapal Singh Yadav; and NCUI President Dileep Sanghani were present on the occasion among others.?The Conference was attended by more than 4,000 delegates of cooperative organizations from all parts of the country.

Narendra Modi, Hon?ble Prime Minister of India, explained that through the Digital India campaign, the benefits for the beneficiaries are manifold. ?Today, the poorest of the poor believe that corruption and nepotism have been eliminated in the upper echelons. With the focus on cooperation, it is important that our farmers and cattle-rearing people should feel this in daily life. It is imperative that the cooperative sector becomes a model of transparency and corruption-free governance. For this digital systems should be promoted in the cooperative sector?, the Prime Minister said.?

Underlining that the main cooperative societies of the primary level or PACS will become a model for transparency, the Prime Minister remarked that though the digitalization of PACS, by now 60,000, has already been achieved, it is high time for all the cooperative societies to be fully digitalized and promote cashless transactions for ensuring further transparency and accountability in the cooperative sector. He stressed upon the need of modernization and maximum utilization of technology to ensure manifold growth of the cooperatives and people associated with this sector.?

Referring to the ever-increasing record exports, the Prime Minister asked the cooperatives to optimize their contribution in multifarious activities. He especially mentioned the dairy sector for good export performance and emphasized the need to move with the resolution to fully harness the potential of our villages. Shri Modi mentioned a new impetus for Shree Anna (millets) as an example of this resolution. He exhorted the cooperatives to come up in the production sof millets.

Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister congratulated everyone on the occasion and said that the country is working towards the goal of a ?Viksit and Atmanirbhar Bharat?. He reiterated the need for ?Sabka Prayas? (everyone?s effort) in achieving these goals where the spirit of cooperation sends the message of everyone?s effort. The Prime Minister noted the contributions of the dairy cooperative in making India the world?s leading milk producer and the role of cooperatives in making India one of the top sugar-producing countries in the world.

He expressed confidence that the nation can become self-reliant in edible oil production when cooperatives will join hands with the government and work in this direction. Shri Modi suggested that cooperative societies can provide all kinds of services and information to the farmers related to plantation technology and the purchase of equipment.?

The Prime Minister called upon the cooperatives to contribute to fulfilling various missions started by the government. He asked them to get associated with the essential water conservation initiative of Amrit Sarovars, Per Drop More Crop, micro irrigation etc.?

?Though the cooperatives in India have existed for more than a decade, it was only under the magdarshan (guidance) of Hon?ble Prime Minister that a full-fledged independent Ministry of Cooperation came into existence after 75 years of long felt need to do so,? stated the 1st Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah. The Union Minister praised the endeavors of NCUI, ?as the apex organization of the Indian cooperatives, National Cooperative Union of India has played a significant role by supporting the Ministry?s every initiative and every change right from the PACS to Apex level!? Shri Shah said that amongst the various major initiatives undertaken by the newly formed Cooperation Ministry, amending cooperative laws to ensure uniformity and smooth functioning across the states? cooperatives, was a challenging task. The Cooperation Minister announced the big achievement that uniform model byelaws will be very soon implemented across 26 states/UTs by September this year!

He further observed that by September, 2023, around 85% of the PACs will adopt the new byelaws which will make their functioning more effective as they can undertake many multi-farious activities. Shri Shah gave a clarion call that the cooperatives should work together and gain many more accomplishments in the next 25 years of Amrit Kaal than what was achieved in the past. He emphasized that the new age cooperative sector should make more efforts to connect with the youth, women and deprived sections of the society.

Amit Shah, on this occasion, also highlighted that that a Cooperative University will soon be started by Ministry of Cooperation in association with NCUI, which will strengthen cooperative education and training at all levels, most importantly the grass-root levels. ?The cooperative university will have a multi-dimensional programme to attract the youth?, he observed. On the occasion, he also presented a brief of the major initiatives taken by the Ministry to strengthen the cooperative movement such as introduction of Multi-State Cooperative Societies Amendment Bill; allowing cooperatives to onboard on GeM portal, digitalization of PACS, strengthening database on cooperatives, etc.

Earlier, Dileep Sanghani, President, NCUI, in his welcome address pointed out that the cooperative sector has got a new life after the formation of Cooperative Ministry. Throwing light on Nano urea, a major breakthrough innovation of IFFCO, he said that this will lead to increase in productivity of the farmers which will uplift their socio-economic standard of living.
Supporting the cause of digitalization in cooperative sector, Hon?ble Prime Minister launched one of the major initiatives of NCUI ? NCUI Haat e-Portal ? a first-of-its-kind e-commerce platform being developed by NCUI exclusively for cooperatives with support from NITCON Limited. Apart from providing access to online market, the NCUI Haat portal will facilitate capacity building support in registration, branding and promotion of products and qualitative feedback for enhancing sales through data analytics. The NCUI Haat portal will facilitate linkages between the cooperatives across sectors and regions for adoption of best practices and exchange of knowledge for business growth, and also provide training support to the members of cooperatives for accessing various social welfare schemes launched by government like availing quality insurance, healthcare, etc., at nominal rates. NCUI?s new initiative on Cooperative Extension and Advisory Services ? an e-learning platform & online query system on cooperatives ? is a significant step towards strengthening the cooperative ecosystem.

A film, highlighting the new initiatives of Ministry of Cooperation, and NCUI, was shown on the occasion. ?Dharti Kahe Pukar ke?, a short nostalgic play featuring two young girls with a strong message on sustainable environment & soil preservation won hearts of the audience at 17th ICC.

With the theme "Amrit Kaal: Prosperity through Cooperation for a Vibrant India," the Cooperative Congress aims to discuss problems and challenges before the cooperative movement and to chalk out an effective roadmap for the future. The deliberation during the Congress will highlight the crucial role of cooperatives in driving India's growth and achieving "Sahakar se Samriddhi". This mega event is being organized by the National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) in association with the Ministry of Cooperation, Government of India and cooperative fraternity across the country on 1st & 2nd July 2023 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.