INCREASE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN
IN CO-OPERATIVES, SAYS
HUKUM DEV NARAIN YADAV
The Minister of State
for Agriculture Shri Hukum Dev Narain Yadav has stressed the need
to increase the participation of women in the co-operative movement.
Addressing the 46th Annual General Meeting of the National
Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED)
here today, he said that the movement could not succeed without
full cooperation of women. The Minister called upon the cooperative
movement to strengthen itself through self-regulation. Cooperative
societies should also think of ways to make crop loans available
to farmers at 9 per cent rate of interest, as announced by the
Government recently. Stressing the need to revamp the marketing
system for agricultural produce, Shri Hukum Dev Narain Yadav said
that the interests of small and marginal farmers must be taken
into account. Cooperatives also must play an important role in
making the terms of trade pro-farmer.
In a message read
out on the occasion, the Agriculture Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh
expressed satisfaction over the financial performance of NAFED
during 2002-03. He drew the attention of the NAFED towards areas
like stringent quality standards, upgradation of technology and
management practices, enhancement of employees productivity, strengthening
infrastructure facilities and product diversification.
During 2002-03,
NAFED registered the highest ever turn-over of Rs.2312 crore,
an increase of 39 per cent over the previous year’s turn over.
It also earned a net profit of Rs.4.14 crore. During the year,
the membership of NAFED increased from 664 to 689. The organisation
has taken several steps to strengthen itself by diversifying its
commercial marketing activities in non-traditional areas like
seed, fertilizer , import and export of agricultural commodities
on tie-up basis, marketing of consumer items, warehousing , institutional
supplies of jute products, development of marketing activities
of agricultural and horticultural produce of the North-Eastern
States etc.
