SHILLONG: A two-day workshop on ‘Orientation and Sensitization Programme on IBDLP for Departmental Officials and Members of Cooperative Societies’ began at the Yojana Bhavan on Tuesday.
The workshop is part of a series of programmes being held across all district of the State to sensitize the Department of Cooperative Societies and the members of Cooperative Societies in their respective districts to work together along with the IBDLP programme.
The participants at the events were government officials from the Department of Cooperative Societies as well as various members of Cooperative Societies in the East Khasi hills.
The chief guest at the event was Additional Chief Secretary K.S. Kropha.
Kropha spoke briefly on cooperative societies and the IBDLP programme and he said that the members of the cooperative societies should be seen as missionaries of the cooperative movement.
According to Kropha, “Cooperation should be taken as a movement and not a scheme or a programme.
A movement would mean that everybody is directly or associated and fully engaged. That is the kind of spirit we need to bring into this endeavour to promote cooperative societies in the State under the Integrate Village Cooperative Society under the State flagship program of IBDLP.”
He also stated that Cooperative societies address the economic activities of a society through cooperation. These activities identified under the IVCS are then to be up scaled if possible to generate surplus which is monetized. This is the objective of the cooperative societies.
P. Jain, Commissioner Secretary and Deputy CEO, Meghalaya Basin Development Authority, also spoke at the event and stated that the programme was organised to sensitize cooperative societies and government departments of the cooperative society about the possibilities which are emerging from the IBDLP programme.
He also spoke on the IBDLP programme and said that “IBDLP programme provides help across the value chain to the local entrepreneur, from inception of a livelihood opportunity to marketing of the final product. The IBDLP hopes to promote at least three livelihoods in a family in order to de-risk the livelihood of an individual and family.”
After the inauguration, there was a workshop conducted by several member of the IBDLP fraternity along with the members of the Cooperative Societies from across the district.
Debate sessions were held to give participants an opportunity to clarify their queries on the IVCS programme in particular and cooperatives societies in general.