Farmers Movement Archive

Centre plans 3 lakh primary agriculture cooperatives in 5 years

NEW DELHI: In the first major policy statement after the ministry for cooperation was formed, home and cooperation minister Amit Shah on Saturday said the Centre will work with states and expand the number of primary agriculture cooperatives from current 60,000 to 3 lakh in the next five years. Addressing the first national cooperative conference, Shah said, “We will work with all states to take forward the cooperative movement.” Over 2,100 representatives of different cooperatives were present at Talkatora Stadium and nearly 6 crore took part online. Saying that some people wondered why the Centre created this new ministry as cooperatives is a state subject, Shah maintained there could be a legal response to it, but he does not want to “get into this argument”. “The Centre will cooperate with states and there will be no friction,” Shah said and added, “The ministry has been created to bring transparency and strengthen, modernise, computerise and create competitive cooperatives.” About the policy, Shah said a policy was brought in 2002 by the then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and now the Modi government will start working on new initiatives. The gathering, seen in the context of the opposition of unions from Punjab, Haryana and west UP to the new farm laws, can be seen as an outreach to a politically significant section of the farm-rural economy. Stressing that the cooperative movement was more relevant today than ever, the home minister said cooperatives can contribute a lot in the development of the country. Referring to problems faced by cooperatives on taxation and other issues, Shah said he was aware of concerns and assured these will be addressed. “Prime minister has given the mantra, ‘Sahakar se Samridhi’, and he has set a goal of a US $ five trillion economy. The cooperative sector will also contribute to fulfil this goal,” Shah said. He said the cooperative movement will ensure progress of rural India and will also create the concept of a new social capital. “Cooperation is imbibed in the nature and culture of the people of India, and it is not a borrowed idea, that is why the cooperative movement in India can never become irrelevant,” he added. Shah said the country is today standing on a very strong platform and now is the time to set new goals and move forward to achieve them. “Our success will depend on four aspects, resolve, conscience, hard work and spirit of federalism,” he added.

The Times of India

2021-09-26

India