The current government, led by His Excellency the President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, is working with great dedication and pure-heart to rebuild the cooperative sector so that it once again wields the same influence and glory it enjoyed in the Northern Province during the 1970–1980 period. Northern Province Governor Hon. N. Vethanayahan strongly urged that our cooperative organizations must prepare themselves to seize this opportunity and move forward.
A special consultative meeting on the development of cooperatives in the Northern Province was held this morning – on Wednesday 10 December 2025, at the Governor’s Secretariat. The Hon. Governor made the above statement while inaugurating the meeting and delivering the opening remarks.
Continuing his speech, the Hon. Governor stated the following:
When I served as the District Secretary of Jaffna in 2015, I took numerous initiatives to strengthen the cooperative sector. In particular, I secured substantial financial allocations from the central government and took steps to strengthen the cooperative societies. Yet, the sector I cared about and tried hardest to develop disappointed me so deeply through the actions of those involved in it and I felt we should no longer obtain assistance for them. It is precisely because of poor and improper management that public trust on the cooperative sector has been lost today.
Recently, the government’s Minister of Cooperatives met with us. During that meeting, I requested that the laws and regulations relating to cooperatives be amended to suit the present times.
At present, many people in the cooperative sector do not provide the services people need when they need them; they merely hold positions and leave. This has now become a habit. This attitude is seen not only in the cooperative sector but throughout our public service: “If I do work, problems arise; better to do nothing and just leave.”
Responsible officers refuse to take accountability or sign for anything, citing fears that their pension will be lost, and thereby avoid implementing essential programs for the people. If we act with honesty and integrity, we need fear nothing. If someone cannot take responsibility, they should step aside and make way for others, the Governor said.
Following this, Dr. Ahilan Kathirkamar, Chairman of the Governor’s Advisory Committee and Senior Lecturer, stated:
“Today’s discussion will mainly focus on two matters. First, how the cooperative sector can act for an immediate solution in the current disaster situation, and second, the long-term development of the cooperative sector.
The present government has appointed an expert committee to reform the cooperative movement, and I am a member of that committee, so I am well aware of the government’s efforts. The government is working toward the target of establishing 1,000 production cooperative societies across the country within the next three years. How many such production cooperative societies we create in the North depends entirely on us.”
The discussion was attended by the Secretary to the Governor – Northern Province, the Assistant Commissioners of the Provincial Department of Cooperative Development – Northern Province, representatives of cooperative societies, and many others.
