Govt to bring Bill for making cooperatives more autonomous

Government is planning to come up with a Bill to make cooperatives more autonomous and professional, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said today.
"The cooperative model is the best for solving the problems of unemployment, hunger and social inequalities. Development of villages can easily be done through cooperatives," Singh said at the valedictory function of the 61st All India Cooperative Week celebrations.
The Minister assured the members of various cooperatives that the government is committed to cooperative development.
"...Keeping due importance of cooperatives in mind, the government will bring Multi-State Cooperative Societies Amendment Bill 2014 so that cooperatives function as autonomous and professional bodies," he added.

He assured the cooperative leaders that they would be consulted on this issue while emphasising the need for changes in the election process of cooperatives so that fair elections are ensured, and reservation is made for SC/ST and women in the Board.
He also informed that the government has sanctioned a budget of Rs 118.08 crore for cooperative education and training in the 12th Year Plan.
Singh asked cooperatives to imbibe modern technologies to tackle sectoral challenges.
The function was also addressed by National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) President Chandra Pal Singh Yadav, IFFCO Chairman and Managing Director U S Awasthi, Delhi State Cooperative Bank President Bijender Singh and NCUI Vice President G H Amin.