Himachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Wednesday, urging the central government to provide substantial funding for Himachal Pradesh’s cooperative sector.
Agnihotri specifically emphasized the need for financial support for initiatives like the computerization of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), the establishment of a State Programme Management Unit (PMU), and the development of the Institute of Cooperative Management (ICM), reads a release from the state govt.
Agnihotri informed Shah that the Himachal Pradesh government had already allocated land in Panjawar, Una, and contributed ?5 crore toward setting up the ICM. He requested an additional ?10 crore as a grant-in-aid to establish this state-of-the-art cooperative training institute.
In response, Shah assured that the proposals for the cooperative sector were under consideration, and funds would be released soon to facilitate the timely completion of the projects, the release claims.
The Union Minister also pledged that the central government would extend all possible assistance to Himachal Pradesh for cooperative schemes. Additionally, the two leaders discussed the proposal to fund the establishment of Mahila Cooperative Haats in the state on a pilot basis.
Agnihotri highlighted the progress Himachal Pradesh has made in digitizing its cooperative societies. In the first phase of the computerization project, 870 PACS were identified, of which 647 have already been made operational (“Go-Live”), with approximately ?18.57 crore spent on this phase. The second phase is underway, focusing on digitizing 919 societies.
Shah noted the achievements in the digitization process and assured that the Ministry of Cooperation would soon convene a meeting of central and state officials to address any outstanding issues related to these projects.
During the meeting, Agnihotri also briefed the Union Home Minister about the state’s efforts to combat the growing menace of Chitta (a synthetic drug) and other narcotics. Shah expressed his support for the state’s stringent measures against drug-related issues and assured Agnihotri of the central government’s cooperation in addressing this challenge.
