New Delhi : Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah today addressed the State Level Cooperative Conference organized in Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh, as the Chief Guest. Many dignitaries including Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav, State Cooperation Minister Vishwas Sarang and Secretary of the Union Ministry of Cooperation Dr. Ashish Kumar Bhutani were present on the occasion.
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah said that there are a lot of possibilities in the three sectors of agriculture, animal husbandry and cooperatives in Madhya Pradesh and a lot of work is required to exploit them to the fullest. He said that for years the cooperative movement in the country was becoming moribund and was divided at different levels in the country. The reason for this was that the cooperative laws did not change as per the times.
Shri Shah said that in our Constitution, except for multi-state cooperatives, all cooperatives are a state subject. He said that no initiative was ever taken to make laws according to the rapidly changing conditions in the country. Keeping in mind the geographical conditions, rainfall conditions, rural development, agricultural development and animal husbandry dimensions of each state, no thought was ever given at the national level. Shri Shah said that no thought was ever given, because there was no Cooperation ministry at the national level.
Shri Shah said 75 years after independence, the Prime Minister of the country, Shri Narendra Modi, established the Cooperation Ministry and he got the privilege of becoming the first Cooperation minister.
Union Minister of Cooperation said that Since the formation of the Ministry of Cooperation, there has been a significant change in the cooperative sector under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and now this sector is moving forward rapidly. He said that the limits that were in our Constitution are still there. Even today, cooperation is a state subject. Shri Shah said that the Government of India cannot make any legal changes in the field of cooperation. However, efforts have been made to revive the Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), promote the dairy sector, cooperation in the field of production, smooth management of urban cooperative banks, district cooperative banks and rural banks. He said that the Ministry of Cooperation first worked on creating model by-laws for PACS and sent it to the state governments for approval. Today the whole of India has accepted these model by-laws. Expressing gratitude to the states for accepting the model by-laws, Shri Shah said that this step has brought new life to the cooperative sector. He said that unless PACS is strengthened, the three-tier cooperative structure cannot be strengthened. He said that earlier PACS used to provide only short-term agricultural loans, in which they used to earn about half a percent income. But today PACS are providing more than 20 types of services and the new reforms will also increase the income of PACS.
Union Home Minister Shri Shah said that today PACS have been allowed to provide services like Jan Aushadhi Kendra, water distribution, common service centers. He said that today more than 300 schemes are available to the people on PACS computers. One does not need to go out of the village to get railway tickets, electricity bills, water bills, birth and death certificates, all these facilities are now available in PACS. Shri Shah said that many PACS have earned income from these services. PACS can now also become fertilizer dealers, start petrol pumps, distribute cooking gas and also manage the ‘Har Ghar Nal’ scheme.
Union Minister of Cooperation said that under the new bylaws, work was done to create Multi Purpose PACS (MPACS) by merging PACS, dairy cooperative societies and fishery cooperative societies. He said that the Government of India has computerized all the PACS in the country at a cost of Rs 2500 crore. Madhya Pradesh ranks first in the country in computerization of PACS. Now the District Cooperative Bank and State Cooperative Bank are connected to NABARD due to computer network. Along with this, transparency has also come in the field of cooperation due to the arrangement of online audit.
Shri Shah said that the computerized PACS are working in 13 languages of India. The Government of India has developed such software for PACS that will work for farmer in his language to open a bank account, i.e. it will work in Hindi in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarati in Gujarat, Bengali in West Bengal and in
Tamil in Tamil Nadu.
Union Minister of Cooperation said that three new national level cooperative societies have been formed. National Cooperative Export Limited (NCEL) was established to sell the farmers’ produce in the global market and National Cooperative Organic Limited (NCOL) was established with the objective of getting farmers a higher price for their organic produce. He said that both these institutions will become bigger than Amul and other institutions in the next 20 years. Shri Shah said that a national cooperative institution named Bharatiya Beej Sahakari Samiti Limited (BBSSL) has been formed for the conservation and promotion of India’s sweet seeds and non-hybrid seeds. He said that earlier only big farmers could do seed farming, but now even farmers with a landholding of 2.5 acres are being given an opportunity. He said that three multi-state cooperatives created by the Modi government – NCEL, NCOL and BBSSL – are providing farmers a fair price for their produce, a platform for export and profits are reaching directly to their bank accounts.
Shri Shah said that we have established Tribhuvan Sahkari University for training in the cooperative sector, from where professionals working in the cooperative sector will receive training. These will include accountants, dairy engineers, veterinarians and agricultural scientists and their expertise will be cooperative-based.
Union Minister of Cooperation said that a MoU has been signed today between the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and Madhya Pradesh Cooperative Dairy Federation (MPCDF). He said that currently, five and a half crore liters of milk is produced in Madhya Pradesh, which is nine percent of the total milk production in the country. The share of cooperative dairies in this is less than one percent. This percentage will increase due to the contract between Madhya Pradesh and the National Dairy Development Board. He said that when a farmer goes to sell his milk in the open market, he is exploited. Our aim is to quickly connect every farmer of every village with the cooperative dairy, and also make such arrangements that cheese, curd, buttermilk, buttermilk etc. are made from milk and sold and the farmer gets the profit. He said that in the coming days, Madhya Pradesh has to expand the primary dairy, increase milk collection, provide good fodder to the animals, and improve their breed so that every animal gives more milk. A processing unit is also to be set up to process the milk and sell it with more profit.
Shri Shah said that in Madhya Pradesh, the marketable milk i.e. the surplus milk after consumption is 3.5 crore liters, of which only 2.5 per cent goes to the cooperative dairy. Only 17 percent villages in Madhya Pradesh have a milk collection system. The MoU signed today has created the possibility of expanding the cooperative dairy to 83 percent villages. He said that the demand for milk in the city is 1 crore 20 lakh liters per day, but the farmer does not get proper profit. Shri Shah said that with this MoU, we should aim to establish cooperative primary milk producing committees in 50 per cent villages for the first five years. If cooperative milk producing committees are established in 50 per cent villages, then the milk processing capacity in the cooperative sector will increase manifold and this will also make the farmers prosperous. He said that in this effort, the Modi government and the National Dairy Development Board are standing like a rock with the farmers of Madhya Pradesh.
Union Minister of Cooperation said that Madhya Pradesh Cooperative Dairy Federation (MPCDF) will have to work on policy making and branding to ensure quality check and weekly payment to farmers. He said that NDDB and MPCDF should work aggressively so that dairy reaches at least 50 per cent villages and farmers benefit from it. For this, if finance is needed, National Cooperative Development Corporation of Government of India will definitely help. He said that farmers should get 100 per cent benefit of their milk production, only then milk production will increase. He said that the Modi government, in collaboration with the Madhya Pradesh government, is committed to take every possible step for the welfare of the farmers of the state.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that now there is good governance in Madhya Pradesh. During the time of the opposition government, the cooperative sector had collapsed here. Now is the golden opportunity to revive the cooperative sector. The people of Madhya Pradesh should take advantage of this opportunity.