The government will soon introduce a National Cooperative Policy, Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah announced at the 'Sahkar se Samriddhi' (Prosperity through Cooperation) event in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, on Saturday. Speaking on the 102nd International Day of Cooperatives, Shah highlighted key initiatives including a 50% subsidy on Nano-Urea and Nano-DAP by the Gujarat government, the launch of Bharat Organic Atta by NCOL, and measures to support ethanol production and maize farmers. He also announced that NAFED and consumer cooperative institutions will procure four types of pulses at 100% MSP.
The Union Minister of Cooperation said that today is a very important day in many ways for all the people and workers associated with the cooperative sector. He said that on this day, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had established an independent Ministry of Cooperation.
He said that today the Government of Gujarat has taken a very important decision and announced a subsidy of 50 percent on Nano-Urea and Nano-DAP. He thanked the Gujarat government for the decision and said that farmers need to spray Nano-Urea only once and that there is no need to add Urea to the fields later during the crop’s growth. Shah said that spraying Nano-Urea and Nano-DAP in the field is sufficient for increased production and will also save the soil. He said that the Modi government has made them cheaper and farmers should use them.
He said that the Government of India has established National Cooperative Organic Limited (NCOL) to promote organic products and ensure fair price for their produce to farmers practising organic farming. Shah said that today Bharat Organic Atta has also been launched by NCOL. Shah said that Amul has also launched a shop of Organic products in Delhi. He said that both Bharat Organic and Amul are reliable and 100 percent organic brands.
Union Minister of Cooperation said that cooperation is not a new idea in India and our forefathers had adopted this 125 years old idea. He said that today we are at an important juncture and the cooperative movement is making a big contribution in various areas of the country.
He said that the cooperative sector contributes 20 percent in the distribution of agricultural loans, 35 percent in the distribution of fertilizers and 21 percent in production, 31 percent in sugar production, 13 percent in the purchase of wheat and 20 percent in the purchase of paddy. Cooperative sector is making a very important contribution to the rural and agricultural economy. We have to lay such a strong foundation of cooperation in the next 5 years so that cooperation can reach every village and household for the next 125 years.
Amit Shah said that the Modi government has come up with two new schemes through cooperatives. He said that the government has taken important steps to promote Ethanol and for the prosperity of the farmers producing Maize. He said that the government has made arrangements that two big cooperative institutions of the government will buy Maize produced by the farmers online at the minimum support price (MSP) and Ethanol will be made from it. This will not only make the farmers prosperous but will also help in increasing the country's foreign exchange reserves by reducing the import of Petrol.
Shah said that similarly, now National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and Consumer cooperative institutions will also procure 4 types of Pulses at 100 percent MSP. He said that we should promote ‘Cooperation among Cooperative’ institutions. He said that if we do all the economic transactions of the cooperative sector within the cooperative sector itself, then we will not need to bring a single penny from outside the cooperative sector.
The Minister urged National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and all the State Cooperative Banks across the country that every Primary Agriculture Credit Society (PACS) and other cooperative institutions should open their account in the District Cooperative Bank or State Cooperative Bank, which will not only strengthen the cooperative sector but will also increase capital and confidence.
He said that the government has set a target that there should not be any state or district in the country where there is not a viable district cooperative bank and a viable district milk producer union. He said that only by doing this we will be able to expand the cooperative sector and make every rural and poor person prosperous. For this we have envisioned a Cooperative Panchayat. He said, even today there are 2 lakh panchayats in the country where there is not a single cooperative institution. We have set a target that in the next 5 years we will work to create multipurpose PACS in these two lakh panchayats.
Shah said that the government has also made model bylaws for PACS and despite PACS being a state subject, every state from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Assam to Dwarka has accepted these model bylaws. Shri Shah said that the Government has also worked towards making PACS multi-purpose and today, out of 65,000 functional PACS in the country, 48,000 have taken initiatives towards becoming viable by adding some new activity to themselves.
Union Minister of Cooperation said that the central government has also formed three multi-state cooperative institutions - Organic Committee, Export Committee and Seed Committee - through which the path has been paved to enrich the lives of farmers.
He said that the government will soon bring a National Cooperative Policy. Shah said that 1100 new Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) have been formed in the country, more than 1 lakh PACS have accepted the new bylaws and now with the issuance of bonds worth Rs 2000 crore to National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), this institution will be able to work for the welfare of more cooperative institutions. Along with this, the urban cooperative banks have got the target of opening new branches, the limit of personal housing loan given by cooperative banks has been doubled, both the income tax benefits and the limit of cash withdrawal have been increased.
Shah expressed confidence that on the day when International Day of Cooperatives will be celebrated in 2029, there will not be a single Panchayat in the country where there will not be a PACS. He said that we all have to come together to make Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's dream come true and take cooperatives forward to serve the poor.