“For decades, cooperative societies have been an intergral part of the socio-economic structure of the country, and the Indian cooperative system, being the biggest in the world is the pillar of the farm sector,” Labour Minister Santosh Lad has said.
He was inaugurating the 70th All India Cooperative Week programme in Kalaghatagi of Dharwad district on Friday. The Karnataka State Cooperative Federation, Karnataka Souharda Samyukta Sahakari, Karnataka State Cooperative Credit Societies Federation, Karnataka State Horticulture Federation and Karnataka Central Cooperative Bank, Dharwad, and other organisations had jointly organised the event.
“There are 9 lakh cooperative societies in the country, which are playing an important role in driving away poverty, in creation of employment and in promoting equal economic growth. The cooperative societies have also helped in improvement of educational standards and employment generation,” he said.
Elaborating on the various measures taken by the Congress government in the State for the people and the development works initiated, he said that for the five guarantee schemes alone, the government had earmarked ₹56,000 crores.
Vice President of Karnataka State Cooperative Federation Jagadish Kavatagimath, office-bearers of various cooperative institutions K.K. Mahendra Prasadgouda, Bapugouda D. Patil, Lingaraj Chpparadalli, G.P. Patil, B.D. Bhookanth, Shivakumargouda S. Patil, Mallikarjun Horakeri and several others were present.
During the programme, the best cooperative activists and leaders were fecilitated and a souvenir brought out to mark the occasion was released.
