Objective of cooperative societies is to develop rural, urban areas: Deputy CM

Una (HP), Nov 17(PTI) Cooperative societies play an important role in making the region prosperous, as the main objective of cooperative societies is to encourage economic development in rural and urban areas with the help of cooperative institutions, Himachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said on Friday.

Presiding over the state-level cooperative function of the 70th All India Cooperative Week in Haroli, his home assembly constituency, he said the cooperative movement started from Panjawar village of Haroli in 1892 and became a mass movement.

The theme of this cooperative week is the emerging sector and ease of doing business in cooperatives and that 5,099 cooperative societies are functioning in the state, in which 19.15 lakh members have shares worth Rs 490 crore, a statement issued here quoted Agnihotri as saying.

He said the Swan Women Federation has been formed in the cooperative sector in the district, and at present, 13,000 women are associated with this group.

Himbunkar in Kullu district and Kamdhenu in Bilaspur district are doing good work in the cooperative sector, he added.

A training institute is being opened in the name of Mian Hira Singh, the father of the cooperative movement in Panjawar, for which land has been identified, and funds will be made available soon, the minister said.

He instructed the officials of the Cooperative Department to prepare a better road map for the cooperative societies. PTI CORR BPL BAL BAL