State govt. committed to developing cooperative sector, says Minister

The State government is committed to developing the cooperative sector, which is the backbone of the rural economy, Minister Satish Jarkiholi said in Belagavi on Sunday.

He was speaking at the silver jubilee celebrations of the Karnataka Rajya Souharda Samyukta Sahakari Federation at the KLE Society BS Jirge Hall.

Addressing the meeting from the S.S. Patil podium, he said that the State government will formulate policies and rules in consultation with members of cooperatives.

“I will try to resolve various issued raised by cooperatives by arranging a meeting of cooperative leaders with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah,” he said.

“The contribution of the cooperative sector to the country’s economy is invaluable. Cooperatives have spread to all sectors and cooperative societies have become multi-service centers in support of rural development. Currently, these cooperative societies are moving towards a lot of profit and more such cooperatives should be added to our district,” he said.

“Now-a-days, cooperative societies are not just limited to offering cash and credit-based services. Several societies are offering product-based services, like joint purchase of farm inputs like seeds and fertilisers, distribution of equipment and procurement of farm produce from producers, food processing, value addition, building common customer base and sale assistance. Such activities have increased the confidence of the people. It is an encouraging development,” he said.

“Today, the cooperative sector has received recognition and special attention is being paid to strengthening the agricultural sector and the development of farmers. It is becoming very difficult for people to get loans, especially from nationalised banks. However, cooperative societies are working to deliver money at their doorsteps. May such cooperative societies grow even more,” he said.

Satish Jarkiholi inaugurated an exhibition organised by the federation.

Minister Lakshmi Hebballar said that she believed that serving in the cooperative sector is equal to serving God.

“We have seen that the cooperative sector is improving the economy of the last person in society. The Souharda institutions are working hard for the economic prosperity of the poor. Many poor people and soldiers have deposited their salary money in the bank and it is our responsibility to ensure that such poor families are not treated unfairly,” he said.

KLE Society chairman Prabhakar Kore spoke against the trends of governments trying to take over cooperative institutions and exert increasing control over the sector.

“The cooperative sector that started 120 years ago has witnessed tremendous growth till now. Even now, the cooperative movement is alive due to the dedicated efforts of several cooperators,” he said.

MLA Laxman Savadi said that nine out of 10 Souharda cooperative institutions are functioning properly.

“We should all focus on the task of developing the lives of the poor. Let us all work hard within the scope of the cooperative sector for the development of the rural poor and farmers. We need to look back on the achievements of the cooperative sector in the last 25 years and move forward,” he said. He appreciated the efforts of the former Minister for Cooperation S.S. Patil.

G. Nanjanagowda presided over the programme.

The former MLC Mahantesh Kavatagimat, BJP MP Jagadish Shettar, MLA Asif (Raju) Seth, the former Minister S.S. Patil, federation director Jagadish Kavatagimat, regional manager Basavaraj Hongala, the former President Manohar Maski, leaders S.R. Satishchandra, H.V. Rajiv, U.H. Ramappa, C.N. Parasivamurthy, Anoop Deshpande, Vishwanath Hiremath, Gurunath Janthikar, B.H. Krishna Reddy, Sachin Patil, A.R. Prasannakumar, Sharanagouda G. Patil and Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies Ravindra Patil and others were present.