67th All India Cooperative Week 2020 celebrated in Shillong

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaNovember 14, 2020

Aimed at providing an opportunity for cooperatives to highlight their stories, project their achievements and chalk out a future action plan which can provide a direction to the growth of the cooperative moment, the Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies, East Khasi Hills in collaboration with the Meghalaya Cooperative Apex Bank Ltd, Shillong today celebrated the 67^th All India Cooperative Week 2020 in a function held at the Conference Hall of the  Meghalaya Cooperative Apex Bank Ltd, Shillong.

The Deputy Commissioner, East Khasi Hills District, Kum. Isawanda Laloo graced the celebration as the Chief Guest.

The theme of the celebration was “Covid Pandemic- Atmanirbhar Bharat Cooperatives” while the topic of the day was “Post Covid-19, Role and Responsibility of Cooperatives”.

Speaking on the occasion, Isawanda Laloo reiterating the Prime Minister’s slogan for Atmanirbhar Bharat with the belief that crisis has to be turned into opportunity in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, said that since inception cooperative societies have been embodying the concept of Atmanirbhar as they are about people coming together to pursue  the common goal of uplifting their economic condition. At a time when the world has been badly affected by the corona pandemic, she pointed out that cooperative societies such as AMUL, MARKFED, IFFCO etc have significantly supported the efforts of the Government in providing relief to the most vulnerable sections of society and the same holds true for the 2000 strong cooperative societies in the state of Meghalaya.

In Meghalaya, cooperatives have been fundamental in augmenting and mobilising people and resources. Their role in value addition, packaging, marketing and making tourism more vibrant has been exemplary, however the reality of increasing number of non functioning cooperative societies should be looked into, she added. She also stated that there needs to be a convergence of all line departments so as to ensure that the cooperative society can function to their optimum.

On the occasion, a message from Dr. Chandra Pal Singh Yadav, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and President of the National Cooperative Union of India was read out.