Voice of 1 Billion Members of Cooperatives Need To Be Heard At Global Level; Dame Pauline Green
International Co-operative Alliance President Dame Pauline Green interacting with Indian cooperative representatives today called upon the representatives of cooperatives in India to implement ICA Blue-Print for Cooperative Decade so that voice of 1 billion members of cooperatives are heard at the global level.. The Blue-print emphasises on developing strong identity of cooperatives so that they emerge as one of the fastest emerging business models by 2020. She was speaking during a welcome meeting hosted by National Cooperative Union of India in Delhi today. The meeting was attended by representatives of IFFCO, KRIBHCO, NAFCUB, NCDC, etc.
Green further said that there is need to lobby for cooperatives at G-20 level so that world economic forums well recognize the strength of the cooperatives. She further suggested the need to set up an online cooperative university so as to popularize cooperative education amongst the youth. She felt that active membership policy is vital for the success of cooperatives. In this regard, she called the Indian cooperators to activate their cooperatives through active membership policy with good technology. She also said that ICA is in the process of creating Global Network of Parliamentarians to lobby for the issues of cooperatives. ‘Political advocacy is the weakest link in the cooperative sector’, she said. She exuded confidence that she would carry forward the momentum provided by the active celebration of International year of Cooperative sin 2012.
Dilip Singh, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture speaking on the occasion stressed on the need of holding timely elections in cooperatives. He hoped that the Constitutional Amendment Act would democratize the functioning of cooperatives.said Dr Chandra Pal Singh, President, National Cooperative Union of India speaking on the occasion said that the Constitutional Amendment Act providing fundamental right to form cooperative is an eye-opener for the future growth of the cooperative sector in the country. He said that the Indian cooperative model is one of the vibrant cooperative models of Asia-Pacific Region. Shivaji Rao Patil, NCUI Governing Council Member, and Padma Shri speaking on the occasion highlighted the need for creating enabling legislation for the growth of the cooperative sector in India.
Various suggestions were made on the occasion by the Indian cooperative representatives. The need to strengthen cooperative consumer sector was emphasized in the wake of foreign direct investment. Need was also felt to undertake active lobbying policy with the government. Undertaking public opinion surveys on cooperatives, forging wider connections with non-cooperative world, listing of cooperatives on stock markets, and forging joint collaborations amongst the cooperatives in Asia-Pacific region were also suggested.
Mohan Mishra
ED[Pub/PR]
Mob 9811773180
