Union Minister of State (MoS) for Cooperation and Development of North Eastern Region, B.L Verma today held a detailed review of functioning of Jammu and Kashmir Cooperative Department here.The meeting was attended by Secretary, J&K Cooperatives Department, Yasha Mudgal; Registrar Cooperative Societies, J&K, Shafqat Iqbal, Director Finance, Sukhwant Kaur, Additional Registrar Cooperative Societies, Jammu Dr. Nirupa Rai, Additional Registrar Cooperative Societies, Kashmir Syed Qamar Sajjad, Joint Director Planning, Madan Gopal Sharma, Additional Secretary, Kewal Krishan and other senior officers of Cooperative Department. Speaking during the meeting, the minister highlighted that under the guidance of Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi & Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah, the country is experiencing the revival of the Cooperative movement to alleviate the problems faced by poor and marginalised section of the Society.The Minister remarked that in recent years, the Central Government has made significant efforts to facilitate development of women as well as youth by associating them with Cooperatives.
While reviewing different schemes of Cooperative Department, the Minister impressed upon the officers that steps should be initiated to maximize the number of cooperative societies across J&K with special focus on registration of PACS at Panchayat level for benefiting the common masses at large . He advised the officers to generate maximum awareness among the masses about different schemes of cooperative department in order to attract more youth . Complimenting the department for growth of Super Bazars, the Minister lauded the scheme of establishing one Super Bazar in each district. He asked officers to bring technological innovations in already established Super Bazars for transparency and ease of customers.While reviewing the facilities and functioning of Cooperative , the Minister appreciated the idea of establishing one cooperative school in each District and asked the officers to expedite the process. The Minister directed that the said schools be equipped with best modern facilities like labs , library and smart classrooms.
Giving a detailed presentation on progress of Cooperative department in J&K, Yasha Mudgal informed the minister that the three tier structure of cooperative societies already in place in J&K. She further informed the minister that 595 awareness camps were held at different locations across J&K for the benefit of the masses in the previous financial year 2021-22 . The Secretary also apprised the minister that the cooperative department is focusing on establishing women centric cooperative societies in collaboration with National Rural Livelihoods Mission. She further informed the Minister that the department is contemplating the registration of PACS at each Panchayat of UT of J&K in addition to the existing 594 PACS. It was given to understand that the department has revived 138 defunct Cooperative Societies in the previous year. While presenting the review / progress of Cooperative Banks the Secretary cooperative apprised the Minister that due to the release of re-capitalization amount of Rs. 255.71 crore by the Finance Department and Rs. 111.22 crore by NABARD, the financial position of District Central Cooperative Banks (DDCBs) is going to improve considerably for retaining the 9% CRAR as eligibility criteria for obtaining the licence from Reserve Bank of India.Secretary Cooperatives also briefed about the targets fixed for the Department and roadmap for achieving the same in a time bound manner during the current financial year.