CAPT. KANWALJIT SINGH ADVOCATES CORPORATE CULTURE OF PROFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT FOR COOPERATIVE ORGANIZATIONS

Chandigarh May 3, 2008

Punjab Cooperation Minister Capt. Kanwaljit Singh asked the cooperative organizations to adopt modern corporate culture of professional management techniques to survive in the competitive market. He said," My outlook is to convulse the State with the Cooperative Movement and to make it the basic activity of every Punjabi."

Presiding over a high level meeting of the officer of the Cooperative Department here this evening, he said that in the fast globalizing world order the challenge for the cooperatives is to have a strategy to adapt to new requirements. They need to sharpen their core competencies and devise market driven business strategies appropriate to the circumstances. They were asked to increase their effectiveness, improve their competence and work in the professional manner to face the increasing global competition from multinationals and bigger corporate businesses. The environments in which cooperatives are required to work today have changed but their relevance and role remain. He urged the officers to run the organizations on professional lines and to function democratically so that the cooperatives become self sufficient and economically viable organizations. They should be committed to the revitalization of the cooperative sector. Today cooperatives ought to seriously consider ways of further strengthening networking amongst themselves. To rejuvenate the cooperatives as well governed and financially well managed institutions it is necessary to have dynamic and committed professionals and well trained staff to run the institutions on sound managerial principles to provide the impetus to the movement in order to reach new heights of growth. The cooperative movement must permeate to all levels from the local to the national and international. He urged the officers that they have to work in a professional manner and induct the new technologies. Economic reforms with emphasis on liberalization have offered many gainful opportunities to private sector and Multinationals. However cooperatives had not been in a position to take full advantage of these advantages. There is a need to recognize the cooperatives as a specific sector of the economy, he added.

He emphasized the need for the creation of structure/Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the aggressive marketing and export of various products of Cooperative Organizations. Markfed and Milkfed ought to play a leading role in ushering in a new generation of agriculture in Punjab in order to give a major thrust to the agro-economy of the state. Besides this, it also becomes imperative to bring in a demand driven transformation in the agriculture patterns.

He also pointed out that there was a strong need felt to shift from present Rice-Wheat rotation in to the new areas where the key and dominating factor would be higher economic returns to the farmers. He revealed that the total dependence on the Union Government�s agriculture and agro pricing policies has resulted in the non-remunerative returns to the farmers. He underlined the need for exposure of Punjab farmers to new markets, both domestically and globally to ensure second generation transformation of Punjab's agriculture. Reiterating the need to introduce a new dynamism in cooperative organizations, he directed the cooperative federations to fix annual progressive targets and to adopt a result oriented work culture to rejuvenate the sagging agro economy of the state, which was passing through a critical phase of stagnate production and ever increasing costs of agro inputs.

He directed the officers to submit a detailed report to make recommendations for the creation of structure/SPV to tap new markets and expand the present marked base for the various products of cooperative organizations thorough efficient marketing and by increasing the volume of exports within a stipulated time frame of three weeks.

The meeting was attended by Ms. Kusumjit Sidhu, Financial Commissioner Cooperation, Sh. Viswajeet Khanna, Registrar Cooperative Societies, Sh. V.K. Singh MD Milkfed, Sh. G.S. Grewal M.D. Markfed