Urban Development Minister meets Shah

Shimla, March 31

Urban Development Minister Suresh Bhardwaj called on Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah at New Delhi today. Apprising him about Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), Bhardwaj urged Shah that the scope of the scheme for coverage of FPOs as cooperative societies should be expanded to all blocks of the state, irrespective of whether they have been covered under the Integrated Cooperative Development Project (ICDP) or not.

He said that the FPOs constituted by the State Cooperative Department should be given the same set of incentives which NABARD was following for the FPOs formed by it.

Bhardwaj said that the interest subvention related to Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS) is available only to agriculture/horticulture related infrastructure. He requested to extend this facility to cooperatives working in health, education, MSME and eco-tourism sectors.

The minister said if there was a provision for collateral free loans up to Rs 20 lakh for cooperative societies, many more societies can avail benefit of schemes like ICDP or PACS.

He further informed that the department was planning to organise an induction-cum-sensitisation workshop for members of the newly formed FPOs wherein experts from various fields, especially agri-marketing, would be participating.

He requested the Union Minister to spare some moments to interact with the participants and share his thoughts and ideas at the conclave. Shah heard the demands and assured of all possible assistance.