Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called for strengthening the cooperatives movement in Bangladesh, saying that cooperatives can play a big role in the country's development.
"If the cooperatives’ movement can be carried out properly, then the country will develop faster... I believe that," she said on Sunday.
She made the statement while addressing a function, marking the 47th National Cooperative Day and awarding the recipient of the National Cooperative Award of 2016 and 2017, reports UNB.
The Department of Cooperatives under the Ministry of LGRD and Cooperatives had organized the event at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in Dhaka.
The prime minister also emphasized the importance of training youths to be good human resources to potentially end unemployment in Bangladesh.
She said: “A cooperative is a philosophy. It is a tested strategy for socio-economic development. In the cooperative-based development process, discrimination decreases because it ensures balanced and sustainable development.
"Cooperatives were the tool to fulfill the dream of the Father of the Nation to build ”Sonar Bangla.” He wanted to expand cooperative-based production and distribution management in all sectors, including agriculture and land management, industrial initiatives, and agricultural credit."
Hasina said that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had incorporated the cooperatives as the second sector of ownership in Article 13 of the constitution; and he also initiated agricultural, fisheries, and weavers' cooperatives as well as industrial cooperative societies for the poor people of their respective classes for their socio-economic development.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina hands over the National Cooperative Award to a recipient during a function at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka on November 25, 2018 | Focus Bangla
"Bangabandhu founded the Milk Vita — a national-level leading cooperative in Bangladesh," she said, adding that government had been working to improve the socio-economic condition of the people by upholding Bangabandhu's dream and ideology.
The prime minister added: "In our development process, we are giving the utmost importance to rural development and cooperatives."
Emphasizing the expansion of the cooperatives movement to optimize land use in food production, she said that the government would cooperate with the private sector to develop the livestock sector.
LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain and State Minister for LGRD and Cooperatives Moshiur Rahman Ranga had attended Sunday's function as special guests, along with others.
National Cooperative Day was observed in Bangladesh with the theme “Let's build a cooperative-based society, ensure sustainable development.”
Earlier, Prime Minister Hasina also handed over the National Cooperative Award of 2016 and 2017 to 20 cooperative societies and individuals in different categories for their contributions to the sector, reports BSS.
She also visited different stalls set up on the BCCI premises by various cooperative societies on the occasion.
