Veteran journalist Onkareshwar Pandey (Centre)
New Delhi: Natural Agro Farming Multi-State Co-operative Society Ltd (NAFCOO), a national-level co-operative society engaged in fertilizer distribution, has got a journalist as its corporate affairs director.
In the NAFCOO election, veteran journalist Onkareshwar Pandey, who hails from Bihar, has been elected as the Director – Corporate Affairs for 5 years. NAFCOO’s founder Arpan Pandey has been re-elected as the chairman cum managing director for the next 5 years, while Jitendra Kumar Tiwari, president of Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) officers Association (Corporate & Marketing), has been elected unopposed as the vice chairman of NAFCOO. ( IFFCO is a multi-state cooperative society wholly owned by Cooperative Societies of India).
Onkareshwar Pandey, a veteran journalist and currently CEO & Editor in Chief of Observer Global Media Group, New Delhi and Executive Fellow at Woxsen University, has over 30 years of multifunctional, multi-sectoral experience while working across print, television, digital and television news agency. He was Senior Group Editor of Rashtriya Sahara, Managing Editor of The Sunday Indian magazine in 14 Languages, Editor of ANI – India’s largest TV News Agency, and Opening Anchor of Sahara TV to name a few. He has authored and edited 10 books.
NAFCOO was founded last year in January 2022 to produce and distribute high-quality agricultural inputs, mainly organic fertilizers, through cooperatives and institutional agencies. NAFCOO believes in keeping with its cooperative philosophy and legacy while incorporating technology to better serve the nation.
The Product Range of NAFCOO comprises Urea, DAP, NPK, MOP, SSP, Bio-Fertilizers, Zinc Sulphate, Compost, Certified Seeds, Hybrid Seeds etc. NAFCOO distributes these products through its channel partners both in cooperatives and private networks. It also supplies products through its own outlets, commonly known as NAFCOO BAZAAR.
The principal objective of the society will be to promote the interests of all its members to attain their social and economic betterment through self-help and mutual aid in accordance with cooperative principles.
Multi-state cooperative societies operate in more than one state. At present, India has more than 1,500 multi-State cooperative societies, with the highest number being in Maharashtra. The MSCS Act 2002 was passed to govern such cooperatives whose members and areas of operation are spread across more than one state.
Last year on December 7, 2022, the Government of India introduced Multi-State Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022 in the Lok Sabha, which amends the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act, 2002. The bill was referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Dec 20, 2022, and is expected to present its report by the end of the ongoing Budget Session of the Parliament.
– global bihari bureau
