Agartala, Feb 4 (IANS): Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Tuesday said that through the expansion of cooperative societies not only the unemployment problems would be resolved but militancy activities would be curbed as well.

Addressing the state-level day-long conference on “promotion and development of cooperatives” at Rabindra Satabarsiki Bhavan here, the Chief Minister said that currently nine lakh people are directly or indirectly associated with the cooperative societies in Tripura.

“Tripura has a population of around 40 lakh and 20 to 30 lakh people can be associated with the cooperative societies to boost the socio-economic conditions of the people of the state,” Saha said.

"After Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in 2014 and subsequently Home Minister Amit Shah looking after the Ministry of Cooperation the cooperative sector across the country became more vibrant,” he said adding that a considerable number of people of the state are not involved in cooperatives and efforts must be taken to involve at least 20 to 30 lakh people in the sector.

He said that if a substantial number of people were involved in cooperative activities, many socio-economic issues of the state would be resolved and the economy of the state would flourish.

The Chief Minister told the function that initiatives have been taken to strengthen the PACS (Primary Agriculture Cooperative Credit Societies) by computerising them and establishing multi-purpose PACS at the Panchayat level.

“Important initiatives have been taken in Panchayats and villages to establish multi-purpose PACS, such as milk and fisheries cooperative societies, and providing e-services through PACS,” said Saha.

He stated that it would be possible to strengthen the country through development in the cooperative sector, which would also make the state stronger.

“By focusing on cooperatives, it would be possible to make the state poverty-free. Not only that, but it would also help in making the state corruption-free,” he said.

Chief Minister Saha emphasised that the main purpose of such programs is public awareness, with one of the key goals being to increase knowledge about cooperatives among the people.

He pointed out that due to a lack of awareness, many remain uninformed about the benefits of cooperatives.

“The cooperative movement is a bloodless revolution. It is impossible to predict how much society would be strengthened through this movement. If cooperative societies in rural areas are strengthened, the country will advance financially,” he said.

The Chief Minister said that currently, India ranks fifth in the world economy and earlier, it was in the 11th position, and this progress has been possible under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Now, we are aiming for third place in terms of the global economy. If the cooperative sector develops, we will be able to achieve this goal in the future,” he said.

The Chief Minister mentioned that the primary objective of the state-level conference is to discuss the successes achieved through cooperatives. Along with the achievements, the shortcomings should also be analysed so that the reasons behind any failures can be properly addressed.

The event was attended by Cooperative Minister Shukla Charan Noatia, Chairman of the National Cooperative Union of India and former MP Dilip Sangani, Chief Executive of the National Cooperative Union of India Sudhir Mahajan and other dignitaries.