In an attempt to harness market access capacity of farmers, the State Cooperative Department of Tripura has stressed the need to construct more godowns and market stalls, especially in rural areas.
After laying a foundation stone for a 100-mt Godown and market stall at Raghna under North Tripura, Cooperative Minister Ramprasad Pal reiterated the State Government’s commitment to the socio-economic development of farming communities of the State and said the Cooperative Department should try to expedite the growth of the farmers as the farmers are the driving force of economic growth in rural areas.
The foundation stone laying programme was held with the initiative of Raghna Pallimangal Primary Agricultural cooperative Samiti Ltd and the constructions will be done under the Integrated Cooperative Development Project (ICDP) at an estimated cost of Rs 15 lakh.
“Cooperatives play a pivotal role in the development of the rural economy. As the farmers are the driving force behind rural economic development, the cooperatives need to focus on socio-economic development of farmers”, Ramprasad pal said.
The Minister also inspected the office of Hitasadhini Co-operative Marketing Society Limited located at Dharmanagar Rajbari area.
Later, Pal reviewed different activities of the Cooperative Department in North Tripura and Unakoti districts. Referring to poorly performed cooperatives, he suggested those cooperatives to expand the ambit of their activities to become economically viable. He also asked the Tripura State Cooperative Bank to provide loans to cooperative samitis. Among others, secretary of the State Cooperative department, Abhishek Chanda and other concerned officials were present in the review meeting.
Ramprasad Pal also laid the foundation stone for 20 market stalls at Kumarghat on Monday. Among others, SC Welfare Minister Bhagaban Das was also present in this programme.