NCUI organized a webinar on the main theme of this year’s Cooperative Week celebrations i.e. ‘Role of Cooperatives in Making India a $5 trillion Economy & SDGs’. Jayen Mehta, MD, AMUL was the keynote speaker.
In his address, Mehta said that the formation of multi-state seeds, organic and export cooperative societies, will expand markets for coop products across the globe and enable coops to make a significant contribution in making India a $5 trillion economy.
Throwing light on expansion plans of AMUL, he said that in the coming years, AMUL, presently covering 2 lakh villages, will cover 5 lakh villages, and bring 1/3rd of milk producers in its fold benefitting 10 crore families.
Further, Mehta pointed out that AMUL, by making significant contributions in achieving 12 SDGs goals, has been championing the cause of coops in this vital area of development.
Prof. H. S. Shylendra, IRMA, in his presentation, emphasized that the need of the hour is to build up a cooperative-based economy, in which cooperatives should meet the members’ needs.
Shylendra pointed out that the greater the role of cooperatives, the more they will contribute in achieving SDGs.
Earlier, Sanjay Verma, Director, Pub/PR, who moderated the webinar, set the agenda of discussions by highlighting the key points of articles written by the authors on the theme ‘Role of Coops in Making India a $ 5 trillion Economy &SDGs’, published in the special issue of ‘The Cooperator’, brought out on the occasion of this year’s Cooperative Week celebrations.
The participants raised wide-ranging questions related to the possibility of replication of the AMUL model in other states, viability of organic farming, youth involvement in cooperatives, functioning of FPO’s, etc.
The webinar was attended by more than 300 representatives of cooperative organizations from all over the country.