A high powered team comprising of President of National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) and Chief Executive met Union Agricultural Minister Sharad Pawar on Thursday to solicit his help on a host of issues including holding seminar for popularization of Constitution amendment bill that enshrines right to form a cooperative into the list of Fundamental Rights.

Talking to Indian Cooperative NCUI Chief Executive said “We met Sharad Pawarji and sought his gracious presence on the occasion of national seminar for implementation of historic amendments in the states. He was kind enough to accept our invitation”.

The seminar has been scheduled for October 12 in N Delhi and participants from states have been invited.

“We are going to invite State cooperative Ministers, Registrars of cooperatives of states, Chairmen and Managing Directors of cooperative bodies. The idea is to give impetus to necessary changes in State’s laws so that the provisions of cooperative amendment act, 2009 are implemented in the states sooner than later”, said Dr Dinesh.

The Constitution (111th) Bill, 2009 also accorded right to set up a specialised agency on the lines of the Election Commission which can conduct elections of the cooperative societies.

If implemented faithfully the bill would usher in an era of professionalization and democratization thereby strengthening the cooperative movement. But state governments have not shown any interest even after the passage of the historic bill more than six months back.

The important provisions of bill include (1) Right to form cooperatives is a fundamental right(2) Cooperatives could set up agencies which would oversee elections (3) Uniformity in the tenure of Cooperative Board of Directors and (4) provisions for incorporation, regulation and winding up of co-operative societies based on the principles of democratic member-control, member-economic participation and autonomous functioning.

There are many states notable among them being Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra where elections in cooperatives have not been held for years. There are cases as in Uttar Pradesh and Odisha where the new political regimes sack the elected boards to suit their expediency.

Cooperators have been demanding constitution of a task force by NCUI to oversee the adoption of the amendment bill by the states. NCUI is alive to its job now!

The President of NCUI Dr Chandra Pal Singh met Union Agriculture Minister to solicit his cooperation in seeking appointment with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the inauguration of the Cooperative Congress.

The apex cooperative organization is holding the International Cooperative Congress later this year, Dr Chandra Pal told Indian Cooperative. “We wish to ensure Prime Minister’s presence as this happens to be the International year of cooperatives”, Chandra Pal noted.

Enlisting the support of Prime Minister would help the cooperative leaders focus on issues vexing cooperatives for a long time, said the President.

Income tax is one such issue which if not resolved in time would threaten the very existence of the cooperative movement in the country, he added.

Chandra Pal said that the other issue pertains to the cooperative banks. No new urban cooperative banks have come up as the government has put embargo on licencing of the UCBs. There are many credit societies and groups of individuals who want to float urban cooperative banks but the government is out of sync with times and consequently the movement is suffering, he added.

It may be mentioned here that the Malegam Committee constituted to formulate the licensing norms has already submitted its report but the government is yet to clear it. There is also the issue of a two layered control of the Urban Cooperative Banks being resisted by a section of the UCBs.

But more importantly, the frequent governmental interferences have compromised the cooperatives. People-centric movement might need governmental support in the beginning but frequent governmental diktats rob it of legitimacy and a leadership-crisis ensues, he asserted.

Through the cooperative congress we wish to draw the Prime Minister’s attention to such pressing cooperative issues, Chandra Pal remarked.

UP cooperative minister Shivpal Yadav says there is not enough supply of fetilisers to meet the demands of farmers in the state.

The minister has reiterated that IFFCO and KRIBHCO should be allowed to handle the job of allotting imported urea and organising an efficient distribution of fertilisers in the state as they have done in the past.  This is the only way in which the deficiency of urea in the state could be supplied, the minister added.

He has called upon the central govt. to help the state with an immediate supply of fertilisers. The UP minister has dashed off a letter to Union Minister Sharad Pawar in this connection.

According to Shivpal Yadav, about fifty percent of the total amount of fertilisers is distributed through the cooperative bodies.

IFFCO and KRIBHCO have not yet received their allocation of fertilisers. A paltry amount of 1.99 lakh MT given to them so far is much less than required to meet the demands in the state. UP needs at least 3.3 lakh MT without delay, the minister added.

NCUI President finally gave in and wrote to the Union Agriculture Secretary a letter for which the agricultural ministry had been tightening the screws on the apex cooperative organization for more than a year.

In his letter NCUI President Chandra Pal Singh Yadav has agreed to cede administrative and financial powers.

Talking to the Indian Cooperative Chief Executive of NCUI, Dr Dinesh confirmed that the letter had been sent but when asked to divulge its content he stalled saying “I have not seen what he has written. It’s a matter between him and the Ministry. So far as I am concerned I will continue to work under the guidance of the Governing Council and the President”.

However, readers could recall the words expressed by Dr Dinesh only a week ago. He had talked about the breaking of the ice between NCUI and the Ministry in an interview given to Indian Cooperative.

Last week meeting was indeed crucial, as Indian Cooperative had informed its readers. It was in this meeting when Chandra Pal decided to cede powers in order to deliver NCUI from a financial bind it found itself in for a long time.

According to sources, the plight of NCUI field project staff that had been without salary for months compelled Chandra Pal to change his mind. Chandra Pal in his meeting with the Union Minister Sharad Pawar had sought his intervention in easing pressure on the staff. Taking advantage of the compulsions of his situation, the ministry babus asked him to sign a piece of paper committing him to relinquishing his powers. When he had returned to his office at Siri Fort Road he knew he had lost it.

It is a matter of time now that funds would start flowing, informed one of the directors at NCUI. But what passes one’s comprehension is the abject genuflection of the highest cooperative body before the imperious govt babus.

On a number of occasions earlier, the issue of abandoning powers had been resisted in the meetings of the Governing Council as it held the elected heads were paramount.

But Ministry’s constant pressure coupled with the arm-twisting tactics of withholding funds compelled the President to bend. And the conditions of the field staff only added to his helplessness.

He won so far as NCUI’s immediate future is concerned but he lost in terms of the future of the cooperative movement.

This experience teaches a lesson too that if you wish to stand up to the babus you have to be economically viable. The cooperative movement that comprehends the entire world is not a product of governmental efforts but an achievement of the people at large.

The government of India would continue with export of agricultural commodities, a weak monsoon notwithstanding. Talking to reporters in the capital, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said   millions of tonnes of wheat and other grains being in excess of domestic demands could be easily exported.

The stock of food grains is presently huge in the country and there is absolutely no cause for concern Mr Pawar added.

Sources say about 2 million tonnes of wheat were recently exported to ease pressure on the storing facilities. Last year in September, the govt had lifted ban on export of non-basmati rice and wheat.

According to Mr Pawar, there has of late been some improvement in monsoon but its behaviour in Karnataka and some portions of Maharashtra is still erratic. The production of some coarse cereals may be affected in parts of the country due to a shortage of rain , the  minister added.

However, experts say there is likely to be a 23 percent less rainfall this year and this is bound to create difficulties for the country’s economy. The low rainfall they add would definitely make India’s goal of achieving a high economic growth much more difficult.

An important meeting between the President of National Cooperative Union of India Chandra Pal Singh Yadav and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar took place in the afternoon of Wednesday. While Pawar was assisted by the new Agriculture Secretary Bahuguna (who has replaced P K Basu) and Joint Secretary, Chandra Pal had Chief Executive Dr Dinesh on his side.

Talking to Indian Cooperative about the meeting Dr Dinesh said that it was a “meeting with a difference” in which free exchange of ideas took place. “While we presented our case and requested for continued support from the government I was happy to note that the Minister is no less seized of the matter”, said Dr Dinesh.

On the query if the fund for field projects would be made available now Dr Dinesh said that regular interaction is important and today the ice has been broken. We can expect some concrete development in a matter of week.

Readers could recall that government has stopped aid to the NCUI for training and education programmes leading to fund-crunch at the apex cooperative organization. Several people working in various field projects across states of the country at a meager salary have not got their salaries for past many months.

According to Dr Dinesh NCUI President Chandra Pal Singh made a very strong presentation on the conditions of field officers before the Minister. He detailed the woes being felt by the field officers and their families.

Ministry has asked us to reform our working and we informed the Minister about the various steps such as new recruitment and promotions policies that have been set in motion in NCUI, Chief Executive informed Indian Cooperative.

When Indian Cooperative asked if the Minister insisted on cutting down the power of Governing Council of NCUI as a pre-condition for releasing fund, Dr Dinesh cleverly skirted the subject.

Readers could recall that government had insisted on divesting executive power from the President and GC. It had suggested that Governing Council should bother itself only with policy matter and growth of cooperative movement in the country. The NCUI’s Board had rejected it leading to stand-off between the two.

Wednesday meeting between NCUI and Ministry took place after a long time and has thrown up a beacon of hope for the survival of apex Cooperative.

Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar did not pull any punches in his criticism of the cooperative sector in India. He called for reorganization of cooperatives as independent professional organizations so that they could play their legitimate role in achieving the goal of inclusive economic development in the country.

In his had hitting speech at the international cooperatives conference organized by cooperative giant IFFCO , Pawar said the ordinary people are disillusioned with the cooperative sector and it is high time the cooperatives cleaned up their act.

According to Pawar, there is no alternative to good and efficacious governance and the lack of honesty and efficiency could easily ruin the cooperative sector.

Pawar added India’s cooperative movement is big with a network of lakhs of units and about 25 crore people involved in this institutional network. The cooperatives are at work in various fields exercising their influence on the country’s economic growth. Their contribution in the field of agriculture is widely acknowledged.

The minister showered an unqualified praise on IFFCO for its important role in promoting the growth of cooperative institutions across the country.

Pawar, among other things, described the landmark constitutional amendment making right to form a cooperative society a fundamental right, amendment of the multi-state cooperative societies act and formulation of a national policy on cooperatives as steps that would give a fillip to the cooperative movement in India.

A delegation of Fishcopfed visited China to study cost effective cold storage, ice-plant and fish processing facilities for primary fisheries cooperative sector in India.

Fishcopfed earlier prepared a data of about 14,000 primary fisheries cooperative and is trying to network them for day to day interaction. The team had earlier met Union Minister Sharad Pawar to apprise him of its ambitious plan of providing electric power  cold storage to primary cooperative societies.

The delegation comprised of Prakash Marotrao Lonare, President, FISHCOPFED, B.K. Mishra, Managing Director and directors of FISHCOPFED board including Damodar Tandel.

Marketing of fish is the main challenge before apex fisheries cooperative as poor fisherman is forced to sell its produce cheap to the middleman in the want of any preservation facilities.

FISHCOPFED wishes to strengthen them by providing cost effective, energy efficient and environment friendly cooling machineries.

Hope the trip was unlike other sojourns by cooperative leaders which are mostly meant for fun and frolic.

The UPA government has introduced a proposal for a new law in the Lower House of Parliament aimed at enabling the National Cooperative Development Corporation to give loans to  companies and such units managed by farmers selling agricultural produce on the market.

Sources say companies managed by farmers can greatly improve the living conditions of primary producers and thus contribute to a rapid transformation of the rural economy.

Analysts are of the view that the companies run by farmers are generally handicapped by their lack of resources and credit and this has prevented them from doing their work well.

Traditionally, NCDC has been involved in financing the agricultural and allied sectors only but over a period of time it expanded its gamut to include other areas of economic activities such as tourism, rural housing and power generations.

Till 2002 NCDC had a minor role to play in cooperative financing as it would finance only those projects which are sent through the state governments. Given the political culture in the states, government lackadaisical approach was leading to nowhere. An amendment in 2002 empowered NCDC to finance a project directly.

In a short period of eight years NCDC financing rose from rupees 350 crore to about 3600 crores. The sixteen spread out branches of NCDC began to organize meetings of cooperative societies and motivated people to come up with viable projects.

They helped cooperative societies in making financial proposal and began to collect forms. The collected forms were sent to headquarters where an expert team would examine them for viability from every angle.

Coming down heavily on cooperative leaders of the country Union Cooperation Minister Sharad Pawar asked them to mend ways if they have to survive.

Comprising of over six lakh societies, cooperative sector suffers from “dependency syndrome” that has prevented it from functioning in a democratic and professional manner, he said.

Union Agriculture Minister was caustic on the country’s cooperative sector for sponging off the government and described this tendency as harmful to its interests.

Mr Pawar expressed this view when he was   addressing the national meet on cooperatives in the capital.

India’s cooperative sector is the largest in the world with members of 250 million in six lakh cooperatives working almost in every field of business, particularly in agriculture.

According to the minister, the dependency syndrome can be put down to a host of factors including   snags in the cooperative laws.

The abnormal tendency has prevented the cooperative sector from professionalizing and modernizing adequately.

Former President Abdul Kalam who also addressed the conference   exhorted the   cooperative leaders to work with honesty and integrity and suggested formulation of a policy framework that enables the cooperative organisations to work more effectively.

Some cooperative organisations including Amul in Gujarat   were the aim of his favourable remarks.