Kathmandu. The Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) Bagmati Province Committee has organized the ‘Cooperative Journalism Training and Capacity Building Programme’.

A total of 40 journalists from 13 districts of Bagmati Province were trained on cooperative journalism, investigative reporting, role of media in cooperative crisis, ethics in cooperative journalism, cooperative law, current challenges and opportunities.

On the occasion, journalist Yadav Humagain shed light on the concept of cooperative journalism, the practice of investigative journalism, challenges in the cooperative sector and the responsibility of media.

Similarly, Chief Executive Officer of the National Cooperative Bank, Badri Kumar Guragain, facilitated the cooperatives’ financial indicators, report-based news writing, analysis of cooperatives’ financial statements, identification of risk signs, methods of financial health check-up, basis of financial evaluation and financial indicators of cooperative crisis.

Similarly, journalist Hikmat Acharya imparted training on the concept of fact checking, method of fact-checking, difference between misinformation and misleading information and types of misleading information.

On the occasion, Minister for Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation of Bagmati Province, Binu Rayamajhi Poudel, said the role of fact-based, responsible and investigative journalism was important to enhance the credibility of the cooperative sector. She stressed on the impartial role of journalists to free the cooperative sector from wrong tendencies and to make the people aware through correct information.

According to Minister Rayamajhi, the office of cooperative registrar was established in Lalitpur some time ago to facilitate the service delivery of cooperatives. Stating that the cooperatives would no longer have to travel to the state capital to receive services, she said the province government has made arrangements to provide services to cooperatives from Makwanpur and Lalitpur.

Minister Rayamajhi said that the provincial government has formulated a policy on poverty alleviation and the policy would be endorsed soon. According to him, the policy has targeted 1,000 households from impoverished dalit, backward and marginalized communities in 8 districts of Bagmati Province except Rasuwa, Sindhupalchowk, Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur.

Under the policy, houses will be constructed for these families. Seed capital will also be provided. She said that the policy has been prepared with the objective of providing necessary skill development training for income generation and making them self-reliant.