75th Republic Day was celebrated at Head Office on 26 January 2024 with great fervour. On arrival, Shri Shaji K V, Chairman NABARD and DMDs Shri G S Rawat and Shri A K Sood were welcomed with floral bouquets. Later the Chairman was presented with Guard of Honour, and he unfurled the National flag. Bank’s serving and retired staff accompanied by their family members were present on the occasion.
The Chairman during his address spoke about the sacrifices made by our Freedom fighters in the struggle for independence and traced the history how the declaration of “Poorna Swaraj” on 26 January 1930 led to adoption of this day for celebration of Republic Day.
He later spoke on Amrit Kaal, the period leading to the centenary of Independence and the challenges it entails on us to make our nation achieve the goals particularly with reference to reducing poverty by enabling the poor households through financial inclusion to access gainful self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities, resulting in appreciable improvement in their livelihoods on a sustainable basis, through building strong grassroots institutions of the poor. KCC has been an innovative financial tool formulated by NABARD for access of loans by the agricultural households, but it needs to be relooked and improved upon to ensure that farmers continue to receive benefits and are assured of insurance against risks. He also indicated the importance of NABARD and responsibility cast on us as around 600 FPOs and PACSs members were part of the guest list of National Republic Parade.
The Chairman talked about the imminent danger posed to the world at large and India in particular because of climate change and mentioned that NABARD is a key stakeholder in mitigating climate change, and our sustainability mandate was presented in COP 28 meeting held at Dubai to a global audience. He also mentioned the Suryodaya Yojna of installing one crore rooftop solar power systems where majority of installation expected in the rural and semi urban area, where NABARD can play a significant role through Climate change.
He highlighted the process of transformation of the Cooperatives that we have undertaken and stressed on the need to work on collaborating with NRLM and refocus our efforts in the areas of microfinance as through our efforts here we can be gender sensitive and increase women‘s access to income through community enterprise programmes and cooperatives. He also reminded to sustain our original role as a thinking organisation and policy advocators, innovators for the Govt. of India. He concluded by saying that Republic Day is a day of pride, reflection, and celebration. It is a day to remember our past, celebrate our present, and look forward to a bright future.
The Chairman’s address was followed by a scintillating dance and music performance organised by the staff members of NABARD. The Chairman and both DMDs met the performing artistes and had words of encouragement for the efforts put in by them.