By OUR STAFF REPORTER
Dehradun, 27 Nov: To promote financial transactions within cooperative societies, a cooperative workshop was organised by the Uttarakhand State Cooperative Bank at the conference hall of the Uttarakhand State Cooperative Union, Deepnagar, here, on Wednesday. The primary objective of the workshop was to implement the nationwide campaign of cooperation in cooperatives.
Under the mantra of “Sahkar Se Samriddhi” (Prosperity through Cooperation) given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a pilot project was launched by the Union Minister of Cooperation in May 2023 in Gujarat’s Banaskantha and Panchmahal districts to promote financial transactions between cooperative banks and primary dairy cooperative societies. Following the success of this pilot project, a national campaign has been initiated to strengthen the cooperative sector at the grassroots level, focusing on enhancing self-reliance through primary agricultural credit societies.
In this context, the cooperative workshop was held in Uttarakhand to further strengthen the cooperative sector at the grassroots level. The workshop began with a presentation by Neeraj Belwal, Managing Director of Uttarakhand State Cooperative Bank, where he highlighted the achievements of the Gujarat pilot districts and the state-level campaign. He explained how, following the Gujarat model, the campaign in Uttarakhand aims to enable primary agricultural credit societies and primary dairy cooperative societies to access banking services through district/state cooperative banks, ultimately benefiting the lower levels of the social and economic pyramid.
Managing Director Neeraj Belwal further explained that operational primary dairy cooperative societies and other non-credit cooperatives will be appointed as “bank friends” and provided with a micro-ATM to deliver banking services to people in the lower socio-economic pyramid.
Addressing the workshop, Cooperation Secretary Dilip Jawalkar emphasised the need for ground-level work to promote the cooperative movement. He stressed that strengthening cooperative societies at the village level is essential and called for the formation of multipurpose cooperative societies in every village. He stated that, if every farmer is connected to cooperatives at the rural level, the state will automatically prosper. The government will provide all possible support for this work.
Cooperation Minister Dr Dhan Singh Rawat, speaking at the conclusion of the workshop, highlighted the rapid progress of Uttarakhand in the field of cooperation. He mentioned that most cooperative societies and district cooperative banks in the state are now in profit. Over the past 7-8 years, unprecedented transparency and improvements have been achieved in the cooperative sector. Dr Rawat added that he dedicates ten days each month to working on cooperative issues, during which he personally evaluates the activities and seeks feedback from farmers through meetings.
Dr Rawat also shared that the Chief Minister’s Ghasiyari Yojana has been praised across the country, and 2025 will be declared as the “Year of Cooperation”. He stressed that this is the ideal time for Uttarakhand to emerge as a leading state in the cooperative sector. He directed officials to form multipurpose societies at the rural level, and in villages with smaller populations, committees will be formed at the Gram Sabha level. This work is expected to be completed by March 2025.
