New Delhi/Mumbai, Nov 15 (UNI) Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday called for a revamp of laws governing cooperative sector in the context of changed techno-economic so that it becomes viable and vibrant enterprise.
'In India, the Government is promoting innovation and entrepreneurship in every field. There is immense scope of innovation in cooperative sector especially in rural and agro-economy cooperatives. You can bring about the long-awaited disruptive innovation with the help of research and and linkage with professional institutions,' said Mr Naidu while delivering the Laxmanrao Inamdar Memorial Lecture on Cooperatives, organised by Sahakar Bharati, in Mumbai.
Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidya Sagar Rao, State Higher and Technical Education Minister Vinod Tawde and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.
The Vice-President said that lack of awareness, vagaries of monsoon, lack of access to market and storage facilities was making agriculture un-viable there by forcing people to migrate from rural areas to urban areas.
Mr Naidu called up on the cooperative sector to play key role in strengthening rural economy and also help the farmers raise their income.
To achieve this, he asked Research institutions and government agencies to support Cooperatives in their efforts to educate farmers and encourage them diversify into allied vocations like horticulture, fishery, bee-keeping, rural logistics and transportation, food processing etc to generate additional income.
'India’s cooperative movement is the biggest movement in the world and has made tremendous progress in several sectors of the Indian economy. I am told that 75 per cent of rural households have been covered through a network of over 8.50 lakh cooperatives with membership of well over 25 crores,' he said.
The cooperatives command significant share in cotton, fertilizer and sugar processing and production in the country, he added.
The Vice-President also asked for an increased focus and attention of authorities, politicians, media, and scientists to make united efforts to improve the lives of people dependent of farming and Agriculture.
Mr Naidu said that Cooperatives can help in reducing the cost of production by sensitising farmers about judicious use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, by encouraging and training farmers in the use of organic manure and efficient use of water and by collective procurement of capital-intensive equipment and inputs.
The Vice-President said that even though India became self-sufficient in food grain production, agriculture sector suffers from structural constraints.
He called up on Cooperative societies to become important conduit between Government and the farmers to deliver the benefits of government schemes, such Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna, Krishi Sinchayi Yojna, Jan Dhan, e-NAM, MUDRA Yojna, Minimum Support Price and others to farmers.
Mr Naidu sought for coordinated efforts of Cooperatives, Agriculture Research Institutions, Kisan Vikas Kendras and farmers’ groups in line with government’s resolve to double the farmer’s income by 2022.
He added that the cooperative sector was facing structural challenges in recent past and stressed the need to address challenges faced by the sector such as politicisation of cooperatives and bureaucratic control, low level of participation by women and youth.
Mr Naidu said that Cooperative sector has proven to be a successful model world over and countries like Singapore, Denmark, Scandinavian countries, Japan and Switzerland have seen success.
He has also stressed the need to learn from best practices and 'see if we can adopt some best practices in fields such as healthcare, retail, Food Production and others'.
Quoting the reach of the sector in different countries, the Vice-President said that 55 per cent of the retail market in Singapore and 36 per cent in Denmark were being held by cooperatives.
He further said that Consumer cooperatives have prominent presence in Scandinavian countries, Japan and Switzerland and countries like Japan, Germany, France and Netherlands, provide affordable health care to common people based on cooperative model.
'We must learn from them and try to emulate such models here in India for the betterment of common man,' he added, according to a statement in New Delhi.
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