1ST STATE LEVEL COOPERATIVE CONFERENCE HELD

Ceiling for work allotments for Contractor Cooperatives raised to Rs. 5 cr
GANGTOK, 10 Feb [IPR]: The ceiling for the allotment of work for Contractor Cooperatives will be enhanced from Rs 3 crore to Rs 5 crore and for the Labour Cooperatives it will be enhanced from Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore, announced the Chief Minister Pawan Chamling at the 1st State Level Cooperative Conference 2014 today.
The conference was organized by Sikkim State Cooperative Union (SICUN) at Manan Kendra here in the capital today. This first of its kind conference was attended by members of various cooperative societies from all over Sikkim.
The Cooperative movement in India started on 25 March 1904 and in 1957 in Sikkim, but the movement really took off and got an earnest recognition in Sikkim in the year 2002 under the present government.
While addressing a huge gathering at Manan Kendra, the Chief Minister Pawan Chamling while giving a brief history of the cooperative movement stressed on the importance of cooperatives in our society and termed it as the movement of the people, without any personal agendas and vested interests but something which is for the state and the country.
“Cooperatives are of paramount importance for the up-liftment of the weaker sections of the society and our government has always worked for this section in particular and all the people in general; to empower and to make them self-reliant”, said Mr. Chamling.
The CM announced price support for those cooperatives who are dealing with agriculture and for those farmers who are involved in farming. This will allow them to get the price they deserve for their products, Mr. Chamling informed.
He also assured full cooperation and help from his government to cooperative societies and also appealed to the gathering to form Village Tourism Cooperative Society, Home-stay Cooperative Society, and above all Marketing Cooperative Society.
“Cooperative means unity and unity has power, so we should all work in tandem with unilateral goal of making Sikkim an exemplary state not only in India but internationally”, the Chief Minister urged.
Earlier SICUN also felicitated the Chief Minister with a memento on the occasion.
During the meet the Chief Minister also launched the official website of SICUN, Sikkim Milk Union and Denzong Agriculture Cooperative Society and also released the magazine Sahakari Sandesh.
Deythang Prarengaon MPCS from West Sikkim and Kadamtam Women’s Milk Producer’s Cooperative Society from East Sikkim won the state cooperative award for the year 2014 for credit and non-credit category respectively. Mr. Chamling gave away the prizes to the winners.
The meet was also addressed by the Minister, RB Subba, who credited the Chief Minister for his innovative and visionary plans, polices and programmes to uplift the poor and under privileged through the cooperative movement.
Secretary Cooperation Department, Government of Sikkim, Ujjwal Gurung, Chairman SIMFED, Girish Chandra Rai, Chairman Sikkim Milk Union, MB Rai, President SICUN, Ganesh Kr Rai, Vice President, SICUN, LP Kafley and President Aho Educated Unemployed Woman Cooperative Society Ltd East Sikkim, Tara Devi Sharma also addressed the gathering.