Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh stressed the need for strengthening cooperative movement in the State which he said was instrumental in providing various essential services to the people. He said that new initiatives were being taken under diversification and expansion of activities of the cooperative societies, which includes filling up vacant posts and strengthening its infrastructure as well.Virbhadra Singh was presiding over the meeting of the State Cooperative Council organized here today.He said that today about 4800 cooperative societies were functional in the State having more than 16 lakh members and working capital of over Rs. 22 thousand crore. He added that hundred percent population had been covered under cooperatives and cooperative societies were assisting in marketing of agriculture produce, fertilizers, agriculture tools and other essential commodities to the people of the State.
Chief Minister said that there were number of societies which were doing remarkable performance, however, there was need to check the erring societies which were involved in embezzlement and were to be dealt with iron-hand.‘The Government would consider the revision of commission on goods under public distribution system to the retailers’, he said. . The Government would also examine to exempt the cooperative societies from provision of section-18 of the Tenancy and Land Reform Act and also to restrict the members outside the State in the cooperative societies, added the Chief Minister.Virbhadra Singh said that the Government would also review for inclusion of syllabus on cooperative movement in social studies from class 7th to 10th.He approved to fill up 120 vacant posts of Inspectors in the Cooperative department besides filling 60 vacant posts of clerks. He said that 252 posts had been sanctioned for Kangra Central Cooperative Bank and remaining vacant posts would also be filled up shortly.
Chairman, H.P. Cooperative Bank Shri Harsh Mahajan thanked the Chief Minister for giving added priority to strengthen the cooperative movement in the State.Registrar, Cooperative Society Shri R. Selvam detailed about the activities of the Department.MLAs Shri Bamber Thakur & Kishori Lal, Chairman, H.P. Agriculture and Rural Development Bank Shri Shiv Lal, Chairman Kangra Central Cooperative Bank Shri Jagdish Sipahiya, Chairman HIMCOFED Shri D.S. Thakur, Chief Secretary Shri P. Mitra, Additional Chief Secretary Shri P.C. Dhiman and Shri Narinder Chauhan, Chairman of other Boards and Co-operations, Members of the State Cooperative Council and other senior officers were also present in the meeting.