Kerala - Kannur   

Coop. sector told to focus on development

Staff Reporter

Minister calls for rectifying shortcomings

PLEA FOR ACTION: Minister for Cooperation G. Sudhakaran inaugurating a seminar on the cooperative sector organised by the District Cooperative Bank in Kannur on Sunday.

KANNUR: Minister for Cooperation G. Sudhakaran has called upon cooperative movements in the State to focus on development of all sectors.

Inaugurating a seminar on the ``Cooperative sector in the State'' organised by the District Cooperative Bank here on Sunday, the Minister said the State Government wanted the cooperative movement in the State to rectify its shortcomings to make it a people's movement. Cooperative societies in the Malabar region were a model for the entire State, he said.

Offering the State Government's support and assistance to the cooperative sector, Mr. Sudhakaran said the cooperative societies would be equipped to serve the people better.

The cooperative sector had a great role to play in resisting moves to divide the people on communal and caste basis, he said adding that registration rules ensured that cooperative societies were not formed by religious and caste organisations.

In education

The Minister said the Government was in favour of the cooperative sector establishing more professional educational institutions. The Government alone could not save the professional education sector now being controlled by commercial interests, he said calling upon the cooperative sector to enter into the professional education field in a big way.

Mr. Sudhakaran said the Government was aware that common people were not getting as many benefits as they got in the past from the cooperative banks.

He said low interest rate for deposits was one of the reasons that made the cooperative banks unattractive to some people. Any increase in the interest rate for deposits would lead to a matching increase in loan interest rate, he said.

The Minister, however, said the cooperative sector alone could ensure overall welfare of the common people, as it had played a big role in establishing economic democracy in the State. He also urged cooperative bank employees to take extra efforts to ensure repayment of loans by defaulters.

He later gave away awards for best performing primary cooperative banks and best branches.

District panchayat president K.K. Narayanan presided over the function. MLAs Ramachandran Kadannappally and M. Prakashan offered felicitation. Bank president P. Balan welcomed the gathering.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Coop. sector told to focus on development
Pathanamthitta lifts title
In Kannur Today

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu