On the occasion of International Day of Cooperatives being celebrated by National Cooperative Union of India on Saturday Mr Jagdishwar Goburdhun, High Commissioner of Mauritius said that cooperatives should come up into the field of natural farming which will boost not only economic productivity, but also promote health in the country.
The theme of this year’s International Day of Cooperatives is COOPS 4 DECENT WORK which supports UNSDG –SDG8 i.e. inclusive development and decent work. The function was attended by key representatives of all the national level cooperative and international organizations.
Shri Goburdhun further said that cooperative is the best medium for service of humanity. Emphasizing on natural way of life, he said that living a healthy life is very important for the current generation. “We are all responsible for spoiling our health as we are not eating pure food because we are used to eating cancerous food”, he said.
Mirai Chatterjee, Chairperson, Gujarat State Women’s SEWA Cooperative Federation, Ahmedabad emphasizing on active women participation lamented that there is very little women participation in cooperatives. Highlighting the success story of women Sewa Cooperative Bank she said that the bank starting from Rs. 40,000/- has now a good roaring business with more than six lakhs depositors which is due to good organizing capacity of poor rural women. She said that the cooperatives are best catalyst for decent work and productive employment. She said that cooperatives because of their democratic character are ideal for promoting decent work.
Sung Chang Hong, Managing Director of NH Bank Korea, New Delhi Office speaking on the occasion said that the bank is committed to rural development and social development through emphasis on cooperative credit system. The bank is waiting for RBI clearance so that it can start its Indian operations soon. Satoshi Sasaki, Deputy Director, ILO Decent Work Team for South Asia and Country Office for India said that cooperatives provide competitive pay and job security more-than the private companies. He also said that cooperatives are catalyst for decent work and productive employment. He pointed out that ILO has initiated a platform cooperative project which will further improve the job prospects.
T.K. Kishor, Programme Director, Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society Ltd. (ULCCS), Kerala, speaking on the occasion said that Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society is a very good example of a successful workers cooperative providing decent work. It is a society which is providing wages to workers which is 30% higher than market rate. Being an accredited trusted infrastructure partner of the State Govt., he said that the bank has recently got a very prestige project for digitalization of Kerala Assembly. He said that the society is working in accordance with all the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Mohit Dave, Programme Manager ICA-AP earlier in his presentation highlighted the key findings of ICA-AP research in collaboration with CICOPA related to some of 45 industrial and service cooperatives in Asia Pacific Region concerning achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Earlier, N. Satya Narayana, Chief Executive, NCUI elaborated on the significance of this year’s International Day of Cooperatives emphasising that cooperatives are the best institutions for promoting decent work. He highlighted various examples where Indian cooperatives and global cooperatives are contributing to UN Sustainable Development Goals.
On this occasion children painting competition was also organized for the age group 6-15 years on any theme to support self-expression. The winners were awarded on the occasion. All the paintings of the children will be send to IE-NO-HIKARI Association of Japan for the 27th Annual World Children’s Picture Contest”. The event was marked by book release of a book on ‘PR and Media in Cooperatives; An Indian Perspective’ written by Sanjay Verma, Dy. Director (PR), NCUI.
While Ritesh Dey compered the programme successfully, Dr. K N Sinha proposed a vote of thanks along with presenting the highlight of the speeches made earlier by the speakers.
