Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday that the cooperative sector’s contribution in creating a $5-trillion economy will be immense as shown by the success of Amul, the world’s largest milk cooperative.

At an event organised to mark the completion of 75 years of Amul, which was started in 1946 as a cooperative movement in Anand, Gujarat, Mr. Shah said the cooperative sector will also prove crucial in making the agriculture sector self-reliant.

“We need to implement this cooperative model to uplift sectors like agriculture and animal husbandry. The cooperative model will prove crucial in making agriculture ‘atmanirbhar’ [self-reliant],” the Union Minister said at the function on the premises of Amul dairy.

Mr. Shah, who has been given the portfolio of the newly created Ministry, said the time has come to take Amul model beyond milk and dairy sectors.

“Today, many farmers have turned to organic farming but they do not have any platform to sell the produce in India and the world. Can cooperative organisations like Amul help them in doing it? Time has come to think on those lines,” he said.

Source : The Hindu Oct 31 2021