Thu Nov 21 14:08:54 UTC 2024: ## Belagavi Ministers Advocate for Cooperative Sector Reforms at All India Cooperative Week
**BELAGAVI, November 21, 2024** – The 71st All India Cooperative Week concluded in Belagavi today with a call for significant reforms to modernize and strengthen the cooperative sector in Karnataka. Ministers and cooperative leaders emphasized the need for greater inclusivity and efficiency within cooperative societies.
Minister Satish Jarkiholi highlighted the need to simplify membership criteria, encouraging the use of digital tools for member selection and actively enrolling small farmers, landless laborers, and farm workers. He stressed the importance of facilitating easy access to institutional credit for farmers through cooperative societies, urging compliance with the existing legal framework.
Minister K.N. Rajanna lauded the cooperative sector’s role in easing farmers’ lives through credit distribution and collective purchasing and selling of produce. He stressed that empowering farmers with pricing control over their produce is key to their true welfare.
Prabhakar Kore, chairman of KLE Society, proposed the establishment of a cooperative university in the state and a dedicated college in Belagavi. Minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar noted the week’s timing coincided with Jawaharlal Nehru’s birth anniversary. MLA Laxman Savadi highlighted the cooperative sector’s potential role in the burgeoning ethanol economy, drawing on his experience in establishing a cooperative for sugar and ethanol production.
The valedictory function was attended by a range of dignitaries, including Rajya Sabha member Iranna Kadadi, Karnataka State Cooperative Federation director Jagadeesh Kavatagimath, other MLAs and MLCs, and the Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Rahul Shinde.
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