Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has launched Sahakar Mitra: Scheme on Internship Programme (SIP) to provide paid internships to young professionals. It is an initiative of the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) under the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare.

Tomar said the NCDC has embarked upon a series of initiatives in the cooperative sector entrepreneurship development ecosystem through capacity development, paid internships to youth and assured project loans on liberalised terms to young cooperators on startup mode.

Sahakar Mitra scheme

The new scheme will provide the young professionals an opportunity of practical exposure and learning from the working of NCDC and cooperatives as a paid intern.

NCDC has also introduced a complementary scheme to promote startup cooperative ventures. Sahakar Mitra would also provide an opportunity to professionals from academic institutions to develop leadership and entrepreneurial roles through cooperatives as Farmers Producers Organisations (FPO). 

NCDC has earmarked funds for Sahakar Mitra paid internship program under which each intern will get financial support for a four-month internship period. 

Sahakar Mitra scheme is expected to assist cooperative institutions access new and innovative ideas of young professionals while the interns gain experience of working in the field giving confidence to be self-reliant. 

Under the scheme, professional graduates in disciplines such as agriculture and allied areas will be eligible for internship. Professionals who are pursuing or have completed their MBA degrees in agri-business, cooperation, finance, international trade, forestry, rural development, project management, etc will also be eligible.

National Cooperative Development Corporation

National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), a statutory corporation under the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare was established in 1963 under an Act of Parliament (NCDC Act of 1962) for economic development through cooperative societies. 

The major objective of the Corporation is to promote, strengthen and develop the farmers cooperatives for increasing production and productivity and instituting post harvest facilities. The Corporation’s focus is on programmes of agricultural marketing and inputs, processing, storage, cold chain and marketing of agriculture produce and supply seeds, fertiliser and other agricultural inputs. 

In the non-farm sector, the Corporation’s endeavour is to equip cooperatives with facilities to promote income generating activities, with special focus on weaker sections.

NCDC can finance projects in the rural industrial cooperative sectors and for certain notified services in rural areas like water conservation, irrigation and micro irrigation, agri-insurance, agro-credit, rural sanitation, animal health, etc.

Besides its head office in New Delhi, NCDC functions through 18 regional/state directorates.

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