ZIRO, 9 Jan: Two Arunachali entrepreneurs from Lower Subansiri district were conferred the Indo-Balinese Achievers Award at Bali, Indonesia, recently.
Social worker and progressive farmer Bamin Siri, who is also the chairperson of the Ziro Poultry Cooperative Farmers Society Ltd (ZPCFS), and Ridge Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd (RMCS) chairperson Michi Amung were felicitated for their meritorious achievements in the field of economic growth by the Association for Economic Growth of India (AEG).
The duo had been nominated for the global award by the AEG from among many candidates in the field of economic activity from India.
The awards were presented by Indian Ambassador to Indonesia Dr VB Soni, along with Consulate General of India Office Vice Consul Lawlesh Kumar and Indonesia Kuta PRO Wayan Sukrata.
Siri, who received the award in the category of ‘social activist’, informed that he has been actively involved in the field of social work and economic entrepreneurship since 1999.
While he was the secretary of the ZPCFS, the state government had awarded the Best Livestock Cooperative Society Award in 2007 to the ZPCFS, and during the International Year 2012, the then president of India, Pranab Mukherjee, had conferred the Biennial Award for Cooperative Excellence to the ZPCFS.
During the World Veterinary Day celebration on 28 April, 2012, the then veterinary, animal husbandry & dairy development minister, Setong Sena, had conferred the Best Livestock Cooperative Society Award in the field of poultry husbandry to the ZPCFS.
During the 2016 Statehood Day celebration, the ZPCFS was conferred the Dorjee Khandu Memorial Award for Best Cooperative Society in the state.
Again, on 23 April, 2022, the ZPCFS received the Rastriya Udyog Ratan Award from union Health Minister Dr K Sudakaran at Bengaluru. The award has been instituted by the Association for Economic Growth of India.
Siri further informed that he had always wanted to be an entrepreneur from the early days of his life.
“I wanted to be a social engineer and bring innovations which would generate employment, uplift the economic status of our people and bring smiles to their families,” he said, adding that many research scholars from across the country come to see and learn the mode of functioning of the Ziro Poultry Cooperative Farmers Society Ltd.
Siri also served as the vice chairman of the Arunachal Pradesh Consumer Cooperative Federation Ltd from 2018 to 2022, and is currently in the board of directors of the federation.
The other awardee, Michi Amung, who received the award in the category of ‘cooperative societies’, is the founder chairperson of the RMCS Ltd. Founded in 2018, the society imparts various training in livestock, and agri-horti and handloom sectors, in collaboration with experts from the fields.
The society also helps and guides unemployed youths in availing various central and state government schemes under the National Livelihoods Mission and the Aatmanirbhar scheme. The society is run by a board of seven directors, with 30 primary members and five self-help groups.
More than 100 households in Ziro valley have benefitted through the RMCS.
The RMCS had been conferred the Best Livestock Cooperative Society Award during the Independence Day celebration in 2020, and the Best Multipurpose Cooperative Society Award during the Republic Day celebration in 2022 in Itanagar. (DIPRO)
