Workshop on Draft New Cooperation Policy at Patna Charts Course for Cooperative Societies’ Contribution to Development

Patna: A regional workshop on the Draft New Cooperation Policy, 2023, was organized at Gyan Bhawan here on Saturday. The National Cooperative Policy Secretariat, Vaikunth Mehta National Institute of Cooperative Management (VAMNICOM), organized the workshop for Eastern Zone in a hybrid mode, bringing together key stakeholders to discuss the approach and key provisions outlined in the draft policy.

Suresh Prabhu, Chairman of the National Cooperative Policy Committee and former Union Minister, addressed the workshop, urging cooperative societies in Bihar to follow the path of socialist icon Jai Prakash Narayan in bringing glory to the state through revolutionary contributions. Prabhu expressed confidence that the cooperative societies of Bihar can make invaluable contributions to the envisioned policy.

Discussing the National Cooperation Policy, 2023, Deepak Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary of the state Cooperative Department, highlighted the policy’s potential benefits for all stakeholders. He emphasized the transformative impact that collective efforts from cooperative societies could have on the development of both the state and the country.

The primary objective of the workshop was to familiarize stakeholders with the new Cooperative Policy’s salient features and key recommendations. Participants included Registrars of Cooperative Societies, State Cooperative Union Banks, UCBs, DCCBs, and representatives from Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Assam, Tripura, Nagaland, and Sikkim. Leading cooperative societies’ dairy federations from Eastern and North Eastern states, along with representatives from NAFED, IFFCO, NCUI, NAFCUB, and ICA-AP, actively participated.

With more than 100 participants attending the workshop in-person and others joining online, the event aimed to foster collaboration and understanding among cooperative societies from different regions. Following similar workshops in Western, Southern, Northern, and Central and Eastern regions, the draft National Cooperative Policy will be submitted to the Ministry of Cooperation by the VAMNICOM Secretariat.