National Conference on “Building a Viksit Bharat” through Cooperatives inaugurated at RICM, Chandigarh
“Meri Samiti Mera Patal” digital portal for Cooperatives Launched by Union Minister Krishan Pal Gurjar and Haryana Cooperation Minister Arvind Kumar Sharma
“Cooperative Societies to contribute 1 trillion dollars to the country’s GDP in the next 5 years”: Union Minister of State for Cooperation Krishan Pal Gurjar
As we celebrate the International Year of Cooperatives 2025, a two-day National Conference on the theme “Building a Viksit Bharat: Transforming Rural Economies through Cooperation, Farmer Empowerment and Growth” is being organized at the Regional Institute of Cooperative Management (RICM), Chandigarh, during April 24 – 25, 2025. The conference, which has been inaugurated today by Union Minister of State for Cooperation, Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar and Haryana Cooperation Minister Shri Arvind Kumar Sharma, seeks to leverage global insights to strengthen India’s cooperative movement. It aims to foster innovative practices, strategies and collaboration to empower rural communities and advance sustainable growth.
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Launch of “Meri Samiti Mera Patal”
During the inaugural session of the conference, the Union Minister of State, Ministry of Cooperation, Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar and Cooperation Minister, Govt. of Haryana Shri Arvind Kumar Sharma, launched “Meri Samiti Mera Patal”, a digital portal for cooperative societies. The portal will play an important role in social and economic development of cooperative societies of Haryana, Punjab, Himachal, Delhi, Chandigarh and Jammu & Kashmir. It is aimed at promoting digitization, skill mobilization, and socialization of cooperative societies, and will serve as a key strategic step for future planning in the cooperative sector. It will help to solve the challenges such as recognition of the cooperative committees, lack of communication and other problems faced by them in adopting latest technology.
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“Cooperative Societies should benefit from latest technologies”
Addressing the participants during the inaugural session of the National Conference, the Union Minister of State for Cooperation Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar said that “Meri Samiti Mera Patal” portal will help address the challenges of the cooperative committees which have been empowering lakhs of youth. He said that the government has been taking historic steps to empower nearly 8.5 Lakh Cooperative Societies, such as providing them online platforms for various purposes. “In the era of digitalization, the Cooperative Societies should also leverage the benefits of the latest technologies”, he said. The minister reiterated the government’s commitment towards the holistic development of rural India through cooperatives.
“Every Indian should be aware about the contribution made by Cooperative Societies”
Minister for Cooperation, Government of Haryana, Shri Arvind Kumar Sharma, also addressed the conference as the Guest of Honour and shared insights on various initiatives undertaken at the state level to strengthen cooperative institutions. He said that the government wants to empower the Indian youth through these multi-purpose and multi-state Cooperative Societies. He urged all the participants of the conference to encourage people around them to join cooperative societies / SHGs or any such institution and contribute towards nation building. “Every person in the country should at least know about the immense contributions made by the Cooperative Societies in the development of the country”, he said.
Several other officers from Government of India, and State governments of Haryana and Punjab also graced the conference. Members of many cooperative societies and SHGs and farmers associated with the societies from both the states and UT of Chandigarh were present in the audience.
Launch of RICM’s Post Graduate Diploma in Management – Agri Business Management (PGDM-ABM)
During the conference, RICM launched its AICTE-approved Post Graduate Diploma in Management – Agri Business Management (PGDM-ABM) program, aimed at promoting professional higher education in cooperation and agriculture. This program will eventually be conducted under the proposed Tribhuvan Cooperative University.
The institute’s national research journal “Sahkarita Anusandhan” was also unveiled. This journal aims to provide new direction to research in the areas of cooperation, agriculture, and rural development.
As part of the conference, the institute also released its Annual Report “Samvet” and the Training Calendar for 2025–26, offering a comprehensive overview of the training programs scheduled for the upcoming year.
“Conference will provide a Golden Opportunity for communication & innovation”
Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Director of the Institute, expressed heartfelt gratitude to all the invited dignitaries, distinguished participants, cooperative personnel, and the institute’s team. He said that the goal of this conference is not only discussions but to find out real solutions and policies through which we can empower Cooperatives and help them contribute to India’s development. “This platform provides a golden opportunity to exchange the ideas, assessing the innovations and learning through the experiences”, he said. He called upon everyone to collectively contribute toward building a strong, self-reliant, and developed India through the medium of cooperation.
The inaugural session of the conference can be watched here.
