JAMMU: The J&K Cooperative Societies Department, today convened a collaborative workshop to discuss and co-create the proposed Holistic Cooperative Development Programme (HCDP).

Commissioner Secretary, Cooperatives, Babila Rakwal, was the chief guest on the occasion.

The event saw enthusiastic participation from a wide range of stakeholders including the representatives from cooperatives, government departments, financial institutions and sector experts.

Notable participants included Cooperatives including Bhartiya Beej Sahakari Samiti Ltd., J&K Milk Producers Cooperative Ltd., J&K Dairy Cooperative Federation Ltd., UNATI Multi-State Cooperative Ltd., Farm Fresh Ltd besides Institutions like NCDC, NABARD and former CGM NABARD Bhallamudi Shridhar.

Besides, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Sheep Husbandry, Skill Development, Horticulture Planning & Marketing, Industries & Commerce departments and the J&K State Rural Livelihoods Mission attended the event.

The workshop began with a plantation drive held under the banner of "Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam", led by Commissioner Secretary, Cooperatives. This was followed by a presentation by the department introducing the vision and structure of HCDP. The presentation emphasized a Bottom-Up, people-led and convergence-based development approach. That HCDP is not a prescriptive scheme, but a framework to support the cooperative-driven models across sectors like agriculture, dairy, processing, fisheries and digital enterprise.

The participants shared relevant schemes, potential models for convergence and strategies for enabling cooperative ventures while the departments introduced the participants to opportunities for collaboration ranging from skill training and marketing access to financial and technical support.

The Commissioner Secretary emphasized that the success of this initiative depends on understanding the real capacities, limitation and unique contexts of different cooperative societies. Field officers must play a proactive role in encouraging the societies, enabling convergence with departmental schemes and providing active handholding at the grassroots.

Babila Rakwal asked officers to proactively identify and initiate pilot projects under the proposed initiative, emphasizing the need to test viability and demonstrate success at the grassroots level before wider replication.

The Commissioner Secretary also directed that all suggestions and models shared during the workshop be compiled into a comprehensive document and circulated for further feedback and refinement, reinforcing the department's commitment to co-creation.

Officers of the Cooperative Department including Additional Registrar Jammu, Joint Registrars (Audit, Banking & Finance, Special), Deputy Registrars and Assistant Registrars from various districts also participated.