AIZAWL — Senior officials from India's Ministry of Cooperation, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), and cooperative departments across eight northeastern states gathered in Aizawl on Thursday for a high-level regional workshop aimed at accelerating cooperative-led development across one of the country's most strategically sensitive and economically diverse regions.
The day-long Regional Workshop for North Eastern States on Cooperatives was held at the Conference Hall of the Assembly House Annexe and chaired by Dr. Ashish Kumar Bhutani, Secretary, Ministry of Cooperation, Government of India. The event brought together cooperation secretaries, state government officials, and institutional representatives under the government's flagship "Sahkar Se Samriddhi" — or Prosperity through Cooperation — programme.
Welcoming delegates, Udit Prakash Rai, Commissioner and Secretary of the Mizoram Cooperation Department, underscored the significance of such multi-state coordination.
The inaugural session featured an online keynote by Dr. Shaji K.V., Chairman of NABARD, who stressed the critical role cooperative societies must play in the region's Sixth Schedule areas and remote districts — administrative zones that constitute a significant share of northeastern geography and are home to tribal communities with limited access to formal financial services.
Dr. Shaji announced two significant developments: the Mizoram State Cooperative Bank has achieved Scheduled Bank status, broadening its access to central banking facilities, and the computerisation of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (MPACS) is currently being rolled out across the state. He cited the cooperative experiences of Assam and Tripura as models worth emulating, and reaffirmed NABARD's commitment to providing technical and handholding support to state-level institutions.
A central theme of the workshop was the World's Largest Grain Storage Plan (WLGSP), a flagship Central government initiative. Presentations by representatives of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), NAFED, the National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL), Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC), and the Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA) focused on storage target strategies, loan monitoring under the Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI) scheme, and improving PACS-level implementation frameworks. Officials also deliberated on financial viability and inter-agency coordination — persistent challenges in hill states where logistics and connectivity remain barriers.
The North East Development Finance Corporation (NEDFi) presented strategies for expanding cooperative infrastructure in the region, highlighting the success story of Konoklota Mahila Urban Cooperative Bank Ltd. in Jorhat, Assam — an institution led by and serving women that has become a benchmark for inclusive cooperative banking in the region.
Representatives from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, and Sikkim presented state-specific initiatives covering best practices, policy responses, market access strategies, and growth plans for Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), Multi-purpose Dairy Cooperative Societies (MDCS), and allied cooperative bodies.
The concluding session featured addresses by Shri Khili Ram Meena, Chief Secretary of Mizoram, and Dr. Bhutani, who reiterated New Delhi's commitment to cooperative-led inclusive growth across the northeast. The workshop closed with a consensus on strengthening state cooperative federations and outlining actionable roadmaps for member institutions.
The event signals a renewed federal push to integrate northeastern cooperatives more deeply into national supply chains, financial systems, and rural development frameworks — a policy priority that has gained urgency as the region's border economies attract increased strategic attention.