Chandigarh: Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Monday said that the state government is taking concrete measures for women empowerment and expanding cooperative services at the grassroots level.
Presiding over a high-level review meeting of the Cooperation department at the Civil Secretariat, the Chief Minister directed officials to give women priority in the allotment of Vita booths. He said that up to 50 percent reservation in such outlets must be ensured for women so they can become economically self-reliant. He also called for speeding up the process of forming and operationalising women’s Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) to enable rural women to actively participate in economic activities.
Saini further directed that all cooperative banks in the state should be upgraded with modern IT facilities to provide farmers and consumers transparent, effective and timely services. He stressed that payments under government schemes, including the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, must be directly linked through cooperative banks. The process for registering new PACS should also be made simpler and more transparent, he added.
To support farmers, the CM said that sugarcane harvesting machines should be provided at low rents through cooperative sugar mills, which would reduce labour costs and enhance production.
He also instructed officials to expand the network of Jan Aushadhi Kendras across Haryana, with new centres to be set up near hospitals and health institutions to ensure that people have access to quality medicines at affordable prices.