On April 20, 2021, The IIT Kharagpur and the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote greater collaboration towards sustainable development in cooperatives, agriculture, and allied sectors.
Key points:
- They will collaborate and supplement the utilization of resources and facilities to ‘Formation and Promotion of Farmer Producer Organisation(FPO).
- The partnership will provide internship opportunities to students or alumni under the SAHAKAR MITRA -NCDC Scheme on Internship Programme (SIP).
- The Agricultural and Food Engineering (AgFE) Department will join with NCDC to empower rural India through cooperatives and FPOs.
- The MoU will involve advancement of training, action research, studies, policy analysis, policy advice, consultancy, monitoring, evaluation, system development and technology development.
- A Joint Working Group will also be set up to monitor various activities under the MoU and suggest necessary measures for its development.
About Farmer Producer Organisation(FPO):
It is a type of Producer Organisation (PO) where farmers are members; the Small Farmers’ Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) is providing support for the promotion of FPOs. Note – PO is a generic name for an organization of producers of any produce, e.g., agricultural, non-farm products, artisan products.
Recent Related News:
On February 3, 2021, the Indian Institute of Technology(IIT) Kharagpur signed a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) for ‘Building Accessible Safe and Inclusive Indian Cities (BASIIC).
About National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC):
Establishment – 1963 as a development finance statutory institution under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
Managing Director– Sundeep Kumar Nayak
Head Office– New Delhi
About Indian Institute of Technology(IIT) Kharagpur:
Headquarters– Kharagpur, West Bengal
Director – Prof. Virendra Kumar Tewari
