NABARD hosts regional workshop in Guwahati to strengthen cooperatives in Northeast

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaAugust 28, 2025

The Assam Regional Office of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), in association with the Ministry of Cooperation and the Cooperation Department, Assam, on Thursday, convened a regional workshop in Guwahati to strengthen cooperatives in the Northeastern states, including Sikkim. The workshop was organised under the banner of the International Year of Cooperatives 2025 with the theme “Cooperatives Build a Better World.”

The programme was attended by senior officials from the Ministry of Cooperation, state Cooperation Departments, Food Corporation of India, State Food and Civil Supplies Departments, Registrars of Cooperative Societies, State Cooperative Banks and representatives from Primary Agricultural Credit Societies across Assam, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.

In his keynote address, Dr. Ashish Kumar Bhutani, Secretary, Ministry of Cooperation, highlighted the vital role of cooperatives in fostering rural prosperity, strengthening food security and promoting inclusive growth in the Northeast. The workshop was also attended by Govardhan Singh Rawat, Deputy Managing Director, NABARD; Loken Das, Chief General Manager, NABARD Assam Regional Office; and Sanjay Gupta and Dr. Suman Kumar, Chief General Managers, NABARD Head Office.

The daylong sessions featured deliberations on the formation of new Multipurpose Primary Agricultural Credit Societies, strengthening and expanding operations of existing PACS and MPACS, development of grain storage infrastructure in cooperatives to safeguard farmers’ produce, and computerisation of PACS to improve transparency and efficiency.

Deputy Managing Director Rawat said the workshop helped map actionable roadmaps, share state-level experiences and identify common solutions for strengthening cooperatives in the region. He added that the initiative sets the stage for building resilient, self-reliant cooperatives capable of serving their members and communities more effectively.

With this collaborative workshop, the NABARD Assam Regional Office reiterated its commitment to empowering grassroots institutions, improving credit flow and advancing cooperative governance reforms to ensure sustainable development across the Northeastern states.