Shillong, Jul 6: A week-long celebration of Cooperative Week culminated on Monday at Mendipathar in North Garo Hills.
The programme was organised by the Office of the Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies (ARCS), East Garo Hills, under the theme ‘Cooperatives Build a Better Future for All’.
The celebration, held from June 29, commemorated the fifth Foundation Day of the Union Ministry of Cooperation. Organised as a nationwide mission campaign, the initiative aims to take the ministry’s achievements, initiatives and vision to people across the country while promoting the cooperative movement.
The chief guest was Donald Sangma, District Development Manager of NABARD, who spoke on the role of NABARD in strengthening the cooperative sector through financial assistance to state cooperative banks, rural cooperative banks, self-help groups and cooperative societies. He informed that India has over 8.5 lakh registered cooperative societies and stressed the importance of effectively implementing cooperative initiatives to realise the vision of Viksit Bharat.
He also highlighted the introduction of the new model by-laws for the formation of Multipurpose Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (MPACS) and informed that Multipurpose Dairy Cooperative Societies and Multipurpose Fisheries Cooperative Societies would soon become operational in North Garo Hills. He also encouraged members of the registered cooperative societies to actively strengthen and expand their societies.
Various activities were conducted throughout the week across East and North Garo Hills, including programmes on cooperative transformation, digital cooperatives, financial literacy, farmer welfare, dairy and fishery cooperatives, grain storage, technology-enabled services, cooperative dialogues, public awareness, green growth, youth and women participation and the dissemination of cooperative success stories.
