A people’s social audit of some of its projects is part of activities being planned by Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS), one of the largest cooperatives run by labourers in Asia, to mark its centenary celebrations.
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Society chairperson Rameshan Paleri told the media that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan would open the year-long celebrations at Government Higher Secondary School, Madappally, Vadakara, at 3.30 p.m. on February 13. V.N. Vasavan, Minister for Cooperation and Ports; P.A. Mohamed Riyas, Minister for Tourism and Public Works; K. Rajan, Minister for Revenue; A.K. Saseendran, Minister for Forests and Wildlife, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan, Indian Union Muslim League leader P.K. Kunhalikutty, and writers M. Mukundan and T. Padmanabhan would attend the event, he said.
Society functionaries said that people’s opinions on around 10 projects undertaken by the organisation in Kannur, Kozhikode, Ernakulam, and Thiruvananthapuram would be collected and compiled as a social audit report. Mr. Rameshan said that it would be presented at an international seminar on sustainable construction models to be held as part of the centenary celebrations. An international cooperative summit too was being planned along with this. “There is a proposal to develop a model village or a model farm that links farming and tourism. Labour banks to provide jobs to skilled youth and solar projects for people are some of the other projects in the pipeline,” he said.
Efforts would be made to popularise the ideals of Vagbhatananda, the social reformer who founded the cooperative, across the globe. Mr. Rameshan said that cooperative sector would be presented before the youth and students as an alternative model of development.