Lalitpur, Jan 9:  Minister for Land Management, Cooperative and Poverty Alleviation, Padma Kumari Aryal, has insisted on the need of giving emphasis on entrepreneurship and vocation by means of cooperatives.    

Addressing the 27th annual general meeting of the National Cooperative Federation of Nepal here today, she said it was necessary to move ahead works related to entrepreneurship and vocational development in all places of the country through the cooperative as it is one among the three pillars of the economy.    

"Many programmes related to entrepreneurship should be initiated for the benefit of the women and youth who are not employed and emphasis also needed to be given for the development of professionalism of the farmers," she suggested.    

Minister Aryal also expressed her concern over the haphazard construction of roads and other structures in the hills and settlements which were resulting in the environmental degradation.    

Describing the cooperative as one of the basis for bringing economic prosperity to the country, she stressed that the Federation should hold intensive discussions while selecting its new leadership so as to elect the new leader who has this vision.    

The Minister for Cooperative and Poverty Alleviation called for the cooperation from all sectors for formulation of cooperative-friendly laws with long-term vision this year and for working together to replacing foreign employment by generating employment within the country through cooperative campaign in the coming year. She also underscored the need for one member from each household to be the member of a cooperative.    

"Cooperatives should be made the medium for poverty alleviation in the country in the context of 18 per cent of the country's population remaining under the poverty line. The government has set the target of reducing poverty to zero by 2030," Minister Aryal said, stressing on the need of promoting cooperatives through technology and a process based on inclusiveness.    

Ministry's secretary Surya Prasad Gautam suggested measures should be taken to attract the youth towards cooperative and encourage them to take the leadership of the Federation. He said cooperatives should reform themselves from anomalies within the sector and promote transparency while laying emphasis on use of new technology. "The cooperative should be developed as a strong means of eliminating poverty from Nepal," he stressed.    

Chairperson of the Federation, Keshav Prasad Badal, said that logo for the cooperatives has been made, thinking logo for all cooperatives of the country should be same, some formulated acts related to cooperatives should be amended and a rule has been implemented to collect five per cent income tax in the context of municipality and 10 per cent in the context of metropolitan city.    

Badal said, "There are 34,736 cooperatives and one National Cooperative Bank in the country. Fifty one per cent women are associated with cooperatives and 63,500 people have now got employment directly."    

He further said that they have submitted application at the Ministry and Tribhuvan University to implement curriculum related to cooperatives, cooperatives act has been passed in all states except State-2 and cooperatives programmes have been forwarded for the welfare of prisoners.    

Likewise, senior chairperson of the Federation, Minraj Kandel, expressed the view that it was necessary to enhance country's income generation through cooperatives.    

Coordinator of Account Monitoring Committee of the Federation, Dharmadutta Devkota, called cooperatives of all States associated with the Federation to find out sources of local income.