By Our Correspondent
SAMBALPUR:Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s main mantra is ‘Prosperity through cooperation’. Before independence, we fought for Swaraj. Today, we have to plan for prosperity, said Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan while participating in the ‘District Level Sarvbharatiya Sambaay Saptah – 2025’ program in Sambalpur on Monday.
Shri Pradhan thanked the Sambalpur District Administration and Cooperative Department for organizing this program on the occasion of the 72nd All India Cooperative Week. He said that cooperatives are an integral part of our society. It is not just a business model, it is an idea. Be it Madhubabu’s Utkal Tannery or an organization like Amul, initiated by Sardar Patelji, these are powerful examples of cooperatives. This idea has played a unique role in empowering the rural economy and farmers. The vision of our eminent Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to include the cooperative sector in the mainstream of the country’s development has created a new enthusiasm in the whole country today. The Modi government has specifically formed the Ministry of Cooperatives and highlighted its importance. A new era of cooperative policy is underway in the state. The Central Cooperative Policy has already been introduced. The government is emphasizing on diversifying businesses through cooperatives.
Shri Pradhan said, everyone has the right to live a dignified life. When we connect the small farmers, women and the poor of the village through cooperatives, then the dream of ‘Self-reliant India’ will be realized in the true sense. Cooperatives teach us that real success is not only achieved through individual efforts, but also through collective efforts. In this way, through collective efforts, we will bring prosperity to Sambalpur. Finally, Shri Pradhan suggested to organize one cooperative training camp at each panchayat level in the coming days and asked to involve the new generation of youth in it. He called for the formation of 150 multi-purpose cooperative societies and 50 agricultural producer organizations (FPOs) in Sambalpur district in the coming days. He suggested that all the families in the district should join FPOs or cooperative societies within the next 2 years.
Odisha Panchayati Raj State Panchayati Raj, Rural Development and Drinking Water Minister Ravi Narayan Naik, Sambalpur MLA Jai Narayan Mishra were prominently present at the event.
