The Union Government’s attempts to tinker with the federal structure, including the creation of a Ministry of Cooperation, are aimed at destroying the cooperative sector for the benefit of the corporates, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said.
Inaugurating the observation of the National Cooperative Week through an online conference on Sunday, he said that such unilateral moves which did not respect the diversity of the country would prove to be destructive. “Be it the amendment of farm laws, the formulation of labour codes or the formation of a Cooperation Ministry, such moves are clearly an infringement on the powers of the States. These are subjects that are part of the State list, which the framers of our Constitution did with a specific purpose. The cooperative sector has also been facing such attacks for the past few years. Illogical controls are being implemented to strangle this sector and its institutions,” he said.
Alternative path
He said that the backbone of the State’s agricultural and industrial economy would be destroyed if the cooperative sector was affected. The cooperative sector provided the hope of an alternative path. Its survival and thriving were not to the liking of the proponents of liberalisation and globalisation policies. The laws being framed by the Union Government were proof of this.
“We cannot forget the false propaganda unleashed against the cooperative sector following demonetisation. Some people accused this sector, which belongs to the common people, of being a collection centre of black money. There are some indulging in activities which would destroy such trust, while there are others who want to blow up these issues and paint the whole sector in black. We have to remain vigilant against all such tendencies,” he said.
Published - November 15, 2021 12:52 am IST
