National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) and National Productivity Council (NPC) have inked a pact to synergise their activities with an aim to promote productivity and innovation in agriculture and allied sectors.
An MoU was signed by Vijay Kumar, Secretary, NPC and Mukesh Kumar, Executive Director, NCDC on 4th January 2022 at New Delhi.
“We have identified various activities for working jointly to bring about innovation through schemes of central ministries such as Cooperation Ministry, Commerce Ministry and Fisheries and Animal Husbandry Ministry to name a few,” said Mukesh Kumar after signing the pact.
In cases where, Ministry of Food Processing and Industry, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Panchayati Raj and NCDC is an implementing agency or wants to implement a program/scheme/ activity, it may engage NPC to provide services as may be required by NCDC and vice-versa, as per the pact.
Under the MoU spanning five years, NPC and NCDC will also jointly formulate programmes to make efforts to sponsor or to invite each other or to jointly conduct national and international institution building activities, research, surveys, capacity development, buyer seller meets, conferences, workshops and studies.
NPC is an autonomous body under the Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade, Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Besides providing services in the area of productivity, it has been providing research and training services in areas of industrial engineering, agri-business, environment management, automation, pollution control, medical waste etc.
Set up in 1958, NPC aims to be the knowledge leader in productivity to provide state of services to the country’s economy to help them become globally competitive.
NCDC, an autonomous body now under the newly created Union Ministry of Cooperation is engaged in the promotion of the cooperative movement in the country through various schemes. It is tasked with planning, promoting, coordinating and financing cooperative development programmes in various sectors with sole aim to promote cooperatives.
NCDC which was set up in 1963 has, till date, financed various cooperative initiatives about Rs.2 lakh crore.