Manipur Information Centre, New Delhi
New Delhi April 30: Union Minister of State for Agriculture Mohanbhai Kalyanjibhai Kundariya today conferred National Cooperative Development Corporation Award for Cooperative Excellence – 2014 to the best performing primary cooperatives of the country for their excellent performance, in a solemn function held at D.S. Kothari Hall, DRDO Bhawan here. Vasudha Mishra, Managing Director of NCDC and Raj Singh, Joint Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture were also present among other officials on the occasion.
National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) is a statutory Corporation set up under an act of Parliament in March 1963 for developing rural economic activities through cooperatives. The NCDC Award for Cooperative Excellence is an initiative to encourage and give due recognition to those cooperatives who despite all odds, are able to sustain and work for development and prosperity of agrarian society. The Award is for inculcating a sense of achievement and spirit of cooperation and thus set an example for others to follow.
Union Minister of State for Agriculture Mohanbhai Kalyanjibhai Kundariya, while congratulating the best performing societies selected from their respective States for NCDC Biennial Awards for Cooperative Excellence observed that these awards would inspire other cooperative societies in the country to perform better in the days ahead.
Emphasizing the role of NCDC for promoting and financing programmes for co-operatives for more than 50 years; he said that NCDC schemes were helping cooperatives to build infrastructure for storage, cold storage, agro based processing units in the rural areas, distribution of agricultural inputs and marketing of agricultural produce to give better price to farmers.
For the State of Manipur, the Biennial Award for Cooperative Excellence 2014 went to the Utlou Weavers’ Cooperative Society Limited, Bishnupur District in recognition of its excellent performance and contribution to cooperative development. Selection team comprising representatives of Cooperative Department, Manipur and Manipur State Cooperative Union and the NCDC Regional Office, Guwahati inspected various cooperative societies of Manipur and selected the society for the prestigious cooperative award.
Hanglem Debala Devi, Secretary and Hanglem Ionebala Devi, Executive Member of the Utlou Weavers’ Cooperative Society Ltd, Bishnupur received the award from the Union Minister of State for Agriculture.
The Utlou Weavers’ Cooperative Society Limited came into existence in 1963. It involved in production of handloom productions, its sale and marketing. All of its 387 members were women and 50 of them were Scheduled Caste and Tribes. Situated in a rural area, the Society frequently organized programmes on agriculture and fisheries to provide supplementary source of livelihood to its members. It had business turn-over of Rs 22.80 lakh and earned net profit of Rs 0.53 lakh in 2012-13. The Society received Kangjam Lukhoi Cooperative Award 2008 and 2010 of the State. It was credited with social activities and members’ welfare programmes like awareness on medical and health issues, adult literacy, prohibition of liquor and drug abuse, HIV and AIDS, women and child welfare and rain water harvesting. It had its showroom at Nambol and Utlou.
