Thiruvananthapuram: The Central Government has discontinued the National Co-operative Week celebrations, which have been observed for 75 years in memory of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The week-long celebration traditionally begins on November 14, the birth anniversary of Nehru, who advocated that the co-operative movement would pave the way for local and rural development, and runs until November 20. Deciding against continuing the week-long celebrations from this year onwards, the Central Government also resolved not to make the decision public.

International Co-operative Day is celebrated globally on the first Saturday of July. The week-long Co-operative Week, led by the National Co-operative Union of India, was unique to India.

A new Ministry of Co-operation was formed at the Centre on July 6, 2021. It has now been decided that future celebrations need only be held based on the anniversary of the Ministry's formation. Following instructions from the Central Government, a one-week co-operative celebration was organised in July under the leadership of the National Co-operative Union.

However, this event did not draw the full participation of co-operative societies across the country. When questioned, leadership at the National Union offered only an informal response stating that since a week-long observance took place in July, further celebrations in November were unnecessary. Meanwhile, the State Co-operative Union in Kerala has decided to conduct the Co-operative Week celebrations this year as usual.

Allegations have emerged that the discontinuation of the week-long event is part of the Central Government's stance to do away with official programmes associated with Jawaharlal Nehru's memory. Notably, no major protests have been raised regarding the matter, even in Kerala where the Opposition UDF holds a presence.