"Bangladesh is a village-based country, with 80 per cent of the total population living in villages. The cooperatives can keep massive contribution in turning rural people economically self-dependent," she said at a function marking the 32nd National Cooperative Day 2003.

The prime minister also gave National Cooperative Award-2002 at the function organised by the Rural Development and Cooperatives Division at Osmany Memorial Hall.

Twelve cooperators and 15 cooperative societies received the National Cooperative Award-2002 for their outstanding contribution to development of socio-economic condition of the countrymen.

Presently there are 1.41 lakh cooperatives across the country with about 75 lakh members.

The theme of this year's Cooperative Day is `Cooperatives in Employment and Reducing Poverty'.

LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and State Minister Ziaul Huq Zia also addressed the function.

The LGRD minister presented two books on rural development, published by the Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD), to the prime minister.

Addressing the function Khaleda said presently nearly 4 crore people are directly or indirectly involved with cooperatives activities through a democratic process.

She, however, noted that sometimes expansion and development of cooperatives were hampered due to leadership conflict and corruption.

She said after assuming power her government identified those problems by arranging seminars and roundtable discussions with cooperative-related institutions and experts and took effective steps for a solution.

Steps have been taken to accelerate the development activities on a massive scale through formation of Gram Sarker and restructuring cooperatives and inducting cooperative representatives in the Gram Sarker bodies.

"We have already completed the process of formation of Gram Sarker," she told the function.

Citing a remarkable contribution of cooperatives in different countries of the world, particularly in Asia, in generating employment, poverty alleviation and generating capital, the prime minister said in Bangladesh also poverty-reduction programmes are being implemented by uniting hapless poor farmers and workers through cooperatives.

Listing various activities and programmes for improving the fate of wealthless, landless and shelterless people, she said the government has allocated Tk 200 crore for implementation of micro-credit programme of the BRDB.

Tk 12 crore interest-free credits for setting up some milk-chilling centres and over Tk 12 crore with minimum interest had been given for setting up UHT plant of MilkVita to help the milk-producing sector further flourish in the country through cooperatives.