National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) organized the 67th All India Cooperative Week themed “Covid Pandemic-Atmanirbhar Bharat-Cooperatives” from 14th to 20th November. Inaugurating the event, Mr. Kadakampally Surendran, Hon’ble Cooperation Minister of Kerala said that the Kerala Government has effectively utilized the strengths of the state cooperatives to tackle the ill-effects of COVID-19 pandemic. He said that people-oriented policies of the cooperatives enabled them to provide banking and non-banking services to needy during the difficult time. The webinar, also live-streamed on Facebook, was attended by the key representatives of national and state-level cooperatives, cooperative academicians, researchers, and other officials.
Dr. Chandra Pal Singh Yadav, President, NCUI, in his presidential address, emphasized on strengthening PACs through Atmanirbhar Bharat package. He laid stress on popularizing success stories of the cooperative sector amongst the masses. He further said that NCUI has expanded its education and training programmes online during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. N Satya Narayana, Chief Executive, NCUI, in his welcome address, said that the cooperatives in India emerged stronger during the pandemic. He also said that cooperatives hold a key in building up Atmanirbhar Bharat as they cover more than 95 % of the villages and the farmers have more trust in cooperatives than any other institution.
Mr. Surendran also said that the demand and supply management of cooperatives in Kerala during the pandemic presented a model for emulation by the other cooperatives across the globe. Highlighting the good work of Kerala Milk Marketing Federation, Kerala State Consumer Federation, he said that the banking activities in the cooperatives’ sector went ahead without hindrances. He pointed out that MATSYAFED expanded the chain of fish stalls in the state jointly with other cooperatives, upholding the principle of cooperation among cooperatives. He also said that small cooperatives led the community kitchens and distribution of food and other equipment to the needy. He informed that the cooperative sector has created 10,000 jobs through MSME loans and other 1,000 jobs during the pandemic.
Mr. Balu Iyer, Regional Director, ICA-AP, in his speech, said that at a time when vocal for local has become important for Atmanirbhar Bharat, what can be more local than the products produced by cooperatives! Emphasising on the need for cooperatives to develop their brands, he said that there can be no better start-up than cooperatives and called for more advocacy and lobbying efforts by cooperatives in this regard. He also emphasized on strengthening the links between agricultural, credit, and consumer cooperatives so that the producers and consumers can benefit more.
Mr. Dileep Sanghani, Chairman, NAFSCOB; Vice Chairman, IFFCO; and Member, NCUI Governing Council, said that working for cooperatives is an important service to the nation. He called for strengthening the cooperative leadership and ensuring that impediments to implementation of the Constitutional Amendment are removed for democratic and professional functioning of the cooperatives.
Shri Satish Marathe, Director, RBI, called for increasing the quantum of advances and loans for all economic activities. He also laid stress on the need for re-designing the cooperative business models for PACs, DCCBs, CCBs in the wake of stagnation in the growth of cooperative financial institutions. Emphasizing on the need for resource generation, he called upon the government to create a platform so that the cooperatives, based on their principles and values, can raise capital.
Mr. R.S. Sodhi, MD, AMUL, said that AMUL emerged as a big success story in handling the pandemic crisis by providing uninterrupted services to the people in crisis. Citing the example of AMUL, he called for a good fusion of political and professional leadership for the success of cooperatives.
Prof. Hitesh Bhatt, Director, IRMA, emphasized on strengthening the leadership in cooperatives and making important policy interventions at grassroots so that people don’t face problems in forming cooperatives societies. He also called for creating more centres of excellence like IRMA to strengthen rural development and cooperative education.
Prof. KG Suresh, Vice-Chancellor, Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Communication, emphasized on developing effective communication strategies for cooperatives to ensure proper branding of the cooperative sector is undertaken. He looked forward to collaborations with cooperatives including NCUI to train cooperative communication professionals.
The messages received from Hon’ble Vice President of India; Hon’ble Prime Minister of India; Speaker, Lok Sabha; and several other dignitaries were read out during the webinar. The event was coordinated by Mr. Sanjay Verma, Dy Director, PR, NCUI.
The webinar recording can be accessed here .
