The National Co-operative Union of India has organised this year’s Cooperative Week, which aims to highlight the contribution of co-operatives to the Indian economy.
As part of the week-long celebrations, co-operators from across India met in Delhi to discuss the future of the movement. This year’s theme of the National Cooperative Week was “Cooperatives for Socio-economic Resurgence in Changing Times”.
Delegates agreed that strengthening co-operation among co-operatives was crucial to growing the movement and highlighting the achievements of co-operative enterprises.
Speaking at the event, Shri B.D. Sinha, Managing Director at Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited (KRIBHCO), said co-operatives should work together to tackle common faults in functioning. Co-operative values and principles should remain at the heart of every co-operative enterprise in India, he said.
Dr H.N. Saxena, Director of Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO), also emphasised that in the context of the global economic crisis, co-operative enterprises have proved to be the most reliable economic model. While other companies needed bailout packages to overcome the recession, co-operatives stayed strong, he said.
Dr Chandra Pal Singh Yadav, President of NCUI, described the passage of Constitutional Amendment Bill providing autonomy to cooperatives as a unique development for the co-operative movement. He expressed concerns over the fact that many states have not amended their Acts in accordance with Constitution Amendment Bill. The Government should work with co-operatives to tackle inflation and the price rise of agricultural products, he said. The NCUI president also referred to the Direct Tax Code Bill, which he said would harm co-operatives, that unlike other private companied, were not profit-oriented.
Delegates also touched upon the issue of “false co-operatives”. Shri B.K. Mishra, Managing Director of The National Federation of Fishermen's Cooperatives (FISHCOPFED) encouraged Indian co-operatives to build up a strong database to know the exact number of viable and non-viable co-operatives.
Dr Dinesh Mishra, Chief Executive of NCUI, said the National Co-operative Week helped to raise awareness of the co-operative enterprise model, motivating people to join the co-operative movement.
The National Co-operative Week is celebrated every year across India to increase public awareness about the sector. The celebrations start from 14 November, the birthday of Pandit Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. To mark the 60th National Co-operative Week, the NCUI published a special issue of ‘The Cooperator”, a monthly journal about the Co-operative Movement in India and across the world.
Photo: Dr Chandra Pal Singh Yadav, President of NCUI & Vice President of ICA-AP Regional Board, along with board members of NCUI and representatives of National Level Cooperative Federation at the inauguration of All India Cooperative Week on 14 November 2013 in New Delhi
