“When several persons come together under one platform and channelize their energies to achieve a target, great results are visible. This is the basic mantra of cooperatives. We may be small, but we are many in numbers. If a large number of small people unite and walk in one direction, a big force can be created and that is called cooperative”, said the newly appointed Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah.
Shah was addressing the 75th Foundation Year celebrations of Amul at Anand, Gujarat, in which several ministers including Purushottam Rupala, BL Verma and Shri Dev Singh Chouhan, Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel, and Amul Chairman Ram Singh Parmar were present.
In his address, the Union Home Minister said that today is the birth anniversary of Sardar Saheb and today Amul also has a program of Amrit Mahotsav. Sardar Patel has a close relationship with Amul. Sardar Patel’s inspiration and hardworking cooperative leader Tribhuvan Das Patel did a good job of turning the farmers’ struggle against the injustice of private dairies towards positive thinking.
Amul became a banyan tree and has become a source of employment for 36 lakh families. Shah said that due to the initiative of late Tribhuvan Das and Sardar Sahib the women of villages in Gujarat produce milk which has spread all over the world, creating a global brand in the process.
“When Amul was conceived, around 200 liters of milk was collected and today the annual turnover of Amul has crossed 53 thousand crores in 2020-21. Amul has developed the capacity to process and store 30 million liters of milk per day. 36 lakh farmer families are associated with it by making it their business and living their life with respect. More than 18600 small milk producer cooperatives of villages are associated with it today, said Shah.
Amit Shah said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has established the Ministry of Cooperation with a new vision. There is a need to make a lot of changes in the cooperative movement and Modi ji was one of the first to see it in time.
The Ministry of Co-operatives has been created with the motto of “from cooperation to prosperity”. Shah expressed confidence that cooperatives can help realize the dream of India becoming a five trillion-dollar economy. There is no better way than co-ops to do so as co-ops can indeed make a self-reliant India.
“The time has also come to take forward our success story in the cooperative sector to other fields such as agriculture, animal husbandry, etc. The idea of Amul’s success to the families of 36 lakhs is not right and it should include all of India in some form.
Amit Shah said that a new kind of awakening has come across the country, many farmers have started testing their land and doing organic and natural farming, but they do not have a platform to market their products. Farmers do not have the means to send their products to the country and abroad.
Shah exhorted cooperative institutions to take lead in creating online platforms where arrangements for testing land fertility and products can be made. Their organic products should be sold with profit in the markets of the world and the benefits should accrue to poor farmers. He said that this would be of great benefit in land conservation, water conservation, increase in production, and prosperity of the farmer.
Shah also advised Amul to keep tabs on the changing times, reminding that Amul delivers money directly from the bank to the doorstep. Lauding digital payment, Shah said the cooperative sector should learn from this and change because those who do not change with the times are not able to advance themselves.
Amit Shah said that even in fulfilling the responsibility towards society, Amul has never ever failed as it has also contributed a lot in curbing natural disasters and promoting nutrition programs.
