South Korea journos visit NCUI

A seven members group of journalists from important news agencies of South Korea viz., “Dang Jin Times”, “Cynews”, “Taeannews” etc. visited NCUI last week for interaction & interview with Dr. Dinesh, Chief Executive, NCUI for publication of an article about the cooperative development in India.

The Chief Executive welcomed the Journalists of South Korean News agencies at NCUI. A presentation on Indian Cooperative movement and activities of NCUI was made for the visiting delegates so that they can have overall information of Indian Cooperatives i.e.  evaluation of cooperative legislation, coverage of population and share in National Economy, role of the Government in supporting cooperatives – financial and policies support/constitutional amendments, structure and management of National Apex i.e. NCUI, Human Resource Development in cooperatives – Education and Training through network of institutions, resources for implementation of various activities and programmes  etc.

While answering specific questions regarding quantifying the benefits of cooperatives to the society, the Chief Executive informed that the measurement can’t be quantified, but it is of qualitative measurement as cooperative is a one of the important tool to reach to the people at the grassroots  level for their socio-economic transformation.

Regarding the problems and challenges the cooperative faced in India and its mitigation, the Chief Executive mentioned about the competition with others stakeholders and a solution lies in professionalization of the employees of the cooperatives to update skill and competitiveness. He also told that Education of members at all level particularly women at the grassroots level is another important aspects towards women empowerment for their participation in decision making process. Another important aspect is to attract the youth towards agriculture and cooperatives by convincing them about the cooperating model of enterprise for economic development and also by inclusion of cooperatives as subject in the School, College and University Level.

On a question regarding sustainability of cooperatives with minimizing financial support of the government, the Chief Executive told that the formation of a cooperative is based on social and economic needs of the member, unlike other business entities where profit is the main motto and thus the member of the cooperatives need to prepare a roadmap for their sustainability with the policy support of the Government. However, to Educate the members of the cooperatives and train the personnel working in cooperatives, the financial support of the Government would be necessary.