Govt committed to development of cooperatives: Agri Min

The government is committed to the development and strengthening of the cooperatives that have provided a direct and indirect employment to about 23.86 millions people in many sectors of the economy, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said today.

He was speaking at Golden Jubilee celebrations of cooperative major IFFCO in Motihari, Bihar. IFFCO is completing its 50 years of establishment on November 3, 2017.

Singh said the cooperative societies have established themselves in many fields of economy such as dairy, banking, sugar, fertilizer, marketing, handloom, fisheries and housing.

The minister said the government is "committed to the development and strengthening of the cooperatives." "Cooperatives have provided direct and indirect employment to about 23.86 millions of people," he said in an official statement.

Singh said the cooperative societies should be made strong democratically.

The minister highlighted that IFFCO came into existence with only 57 cooperative societies in the year 1967-68 but now it is one of the largest cooperative societies in the country with more than 36,000 societies.

Singh said IFFCO through its vast network is rendering its services to about 5.5 crores of farmers.