Accusing the Congress of killing the Cooperatives movement and destroying the Cooperative societies during its long rule in the country, Union Minister of Cooperation, Amit Shah lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for establishing the first Ministry of Cooperation in 2021, 74 years after independence, and asserted that this is the golden time to revive the cooperative sector across the country.

Shah was addressing the State-Level Cooperatives Convention organised under the ongoing ‘International Cooperatives Year – 2025’ at Ravindra Bhavan in Bhopal on Sunday afternoon.

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“Over the years, the cooperative movement in the country was reeling at most places and it was almost taking its last breaths in some states,” Shah lamented. He pointed out that the main reason behind this sorry state of affairs was that there was no entity at the Centre to take steps for the progress of the cooperative sector, and also because the old cooperative laws had not been changed according to the changing needs of time.

“It was after 75 years of independence that PM Narendra Modi took the initiative and set up the country’s first Cooperation Ministry,” Shah noted.

“The first step we took was to draft model by-laws for all the Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) across the country,” Shah informed. “Since our intentions were honest and our efforts genuine, all the states in the country readily accepted and adopted the new model by-laws,” he acknowledged.

“We also set up three new Cooperatives, including the Export Cooperative, the Organic Cooperative and the Seed Cooperative at the national level,” the minister informed.

“I can guarantee that the Export Cooperative and the Organic Cooperative will surpass even ‘Amul’ in the next 20 years,” he claimed. He said farmers would benefit greatly from these cooperatives, as they would open the doors to international markets.

The minister said that the union government has also set up a Cooperatives University.

Lauding Madhya Pradesh, Shah informed that the state is number one in the country in the computerisation of the PACS.

“Madhya Pradesh has a lot of promise in the fields of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Cooperatives,” the minister noted.

Expressing happiness at the agreement signed on the occasion between the Madhya Pradesh Government and the ‘National Dairy Development Board’ (NDDB) for the promotion of the state’s ‘Sanchi’ brand of milk and milk products, Mr Shah said this would go a long way in benefitting and profiting the dairy farmers of MP and further enhancing the milk production and milk-products related cooperatives in the state.

“Presently, MP produces 5.5 crore litres milk, but only one per cent of it goes to cooperative dairies,” he pointed out.

He said there is a need to improve the situation and the target must be to have cooperative milk production and milk processing units in at least 50 per cent of the state’s villages in the first five years of this agreement.

He also asserted that it must be ensured that farmers get weekly payments and the quality inspection of milk and related products is done regularly and stringently.

“I assure you that the union government is ready to help financially and in all possible ways to achieve that aim,” the minister stated.

During his speech, Amit Shah quipped at one point, “I was also surprised (on being made the union cooperation minister), just like Mohan ji said earlier.”

MP CM Dr Mohan Yadav, who addressed the gathering before Minister Shah, had remarked in his speech that he was in a little ‘doubt’ about how Amit Shah would revive the cooperatives movement, when Shah was declared as the first union minister for cooperation.

Dr Yadav went on to say further, “Amit Shah’s performance has always been sterling in all the Ministries he has got, and he has done just the same in the Cooperation Ministry too.”