Development forum set up to promote cooperative sectors' growth

A cooperative development forum (CDF) has been formed under the chairmanship of former Union Minister Suresh Prabhu to revamp and revitalise the cooperative sector, which holds huge potential to push the country's economic growth.

"CDF has been formed to revamp and revitalise the cooperative sector to ensure that the sector grows in future," Prabhu said on Wednesday in a statement.

Prabhu, who is India's Sherpa to G20 and G7 and Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), will be the forum's founding chairman.


The members of the forum include IFFCO Managing Director U S Awasthi, KRIBHCO Chairman Chandra Pal Singh Yadav, NCUI President Dileep Sanghani, National Cooperative Dairy Federation of India Chairman Mangal Jit Rai, and NAGCUB Chairman Jyotindra Mehta.

Prabhu said that currently, the cooperatives in India have a total membership of 28 crore in banking, dairy, spinning, consumers, fertilisers, food processing, agriculture, supply-chains and many others, which connects all the villages through a large number of primary agricultural credit societies (PACS).

The forum, he said, will work on aligning itself with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Aatmanirbhar Bharat, Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan, Aayushman Bharat, and PMUDAY.

It is also preparing a road map for India reaching a USD 5-trillion economy.

He added that It will work closely with the government so that the problems of the cooperatives are explained to the government so that remedial measures can be taken.

Further, the forum will work with international organisations and multi-national societies to offer a new model of development to bring the world out of the current socio-economic crisis.