Union Home Minister Amit Shah delivers address at the prestigious Laxmanrao Inamdar Memorial lecture, organized by Mumbai University and Sahkar Bharati in Maharashtra

New Delhi: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah delivered his address at the prestigious Laxmanrao Inamdar Memorial lecture, organized by Mumbai University and Sahakar Bharati in Maharashtra, today. Several dignitaries, including Governor of Maharashtra, Shri Ramesh Bais and Chief Minister, Shri Eknath Shinde, were present on the occasion.

In his address, Shri Amit Shah said that Shri Laxmanrao was born in Maharashtra, and he chose Gujarat as his Karmbhumi, where throughout his life, he remained a source of inspiration for the youth. He said that Shri Laxmanrao Inamdar received the guidance of many prominent leaders and activists from various fields. He added that many dedicated workers, nurtured and groomed by Shri Inamdar, have contributed to the glory of Gujarat’s public life, based on the values and principles he imparted. He added that vakeel sahab used to make his companions invaluable by imbuing them with values, and when a person used to come under his influence, they transformed into someone as precious as gold. Shri Shah said that Gujarat’s public life is now highly disciplined, and Shri Inamdar has made a huge contribution towards it. He said that by establishing a chair in the name of Laxmanrao Inamdar ji, Mumbai University has laid the foundation to perpetuate his ideas through students, for generations to come.

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that everyone remembers Shri Laxmanrao with utmost respect among the prominent national leaders of the cooperative sector. He said that among all these leaders, Shri Inamdar was the only one, who was neither a member nor an office bearer of any cooperative society, yet he contributed significantly to the cooperative sector. Shri Shah said that Shri Laxmanrao Inamdar possessed intellectual rigour when it came to the principles and essence of cooperation, and he used this to address and eradicate prevailing shortcomings within the cooperatives, and it is through this intellectual approach that he guided Sahkar Bharati for so many years. He added that it is a result of Laxmanrao Ji’s efforts that Sahkar Bharati has been able to carve a distinct position for itself.

Shri Amit Shah said that to understand how a person can lead a selfless life and achieve greatness, one should learn about Inamdar Ji from the people associated with the public life in Gujarat. He said that Inamdar Ji gave purpose to many people’s lives, instilled in them the courage to attain that purpose, and to never stray from that path, to achieve their goals.

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that the cooperative movement in India started in 1904, and over time, it began to spread in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Central India, Tamil Nadu, and Bengal. He said that after independence, cooperation made a commendable effort to provide a model that bridged the gap between socialist and capitalist models. He added that the while other two models envisioned the state and the market, but the cooperative model was based on the idea of cooperation and the welfare of all. Shri Shah said that in the early days, many individuals worked towards providing a new direction and ethos to the cooperative sector. He added that as a result, several excellent cooperative models emerged in the country, especially in the areas of rural and agricultural development. He said that after 1960, and particularly after 1967, politics started interfering with the cooperative sector, and gradually, there was a decline in the country’s economy, which had a detrimental impact on the cooperative movement.

Shri Amit Shah said that now, through the excellent model of cooperation, 36 lakh women in the country conduct a milk business worth 60,000 crore rupees through Amul, and not a single women has invested more than Rs. 100 as capital. He said that cooperatives have contributed significantly towards prosperity of Gujarat, especially in rural areas. He added that the cooperative model is very suitable for our country because we need employment along with economic development, mass production, and production by masses. Shri Shah said that mass production will accelerate the country’s economy, and production by masses will provide employment to every individual in the country. Shri Shah said that through the best combination of cooperative sector and organizations related to the country’s economy, India can move forward. He said that the model of cooperation is a humanity-centric model. Today, there are 8.5 lakh cooperative societies in the country with 30 crore members, 93,000 PACS, 2 lakh milk societies and many world-renowned cooperative societies like IFFCO, KRIBHCO, and Amul. He said that 12 cooperative banks of India are among the top 300 top ranked cooperative societies in the world.

The Union Minister of Cooperation said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has created a separate Ministry of Cooperation in the country to give a new life and momentum to the cooperative sector. He said that from 2014 to 2023, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has provided bank accounts, houses, drinking water, electricity, gas connections, toilets and health benefits up to Rs 5 lakh to those 60 crore people of the country who were not part of the country’s economy and this has infused new energy into the lives of these 60 crore people. Shri Shah said that these 60 crore people have now joined the country’s economy and want to contribute to the country’s development, but they do not have their own capital. He said that only through cooperation can these 60 crore people be linked with the development of the country. He said that cooperation is an area in which thousands of people with small capital can come together and compete with industries having huge capital. He said that for these 60 crore people to contribute to the development of the country, advance women-led development, stop migration from villages to cities by giving importance to rural development and connect every person with the country’s economy, there cannot be any other model except Cooperative.

Shri Amit Shah said that the government led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has also done many things for the Urban Cooperative Banks, like, raising the problem of settlement with the Reserve Bank. Now Urban Cooperative Banks have also been given the right to do settlement. Along with this, Urban Cooperative Banks will now be able to open new branches, create bank mitras, open micro ATMs and their loan limit for giving residential loans has also been doubled. He said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, there have been radical changes in the rural areas of the country. He said that Shri Narendra Modi has decided that in the next 5 years, 3 lakh new PACS will be created and there will be one PACS in every panchayat and these PACS will be multidimensional. He said that the government led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has made PACS viable by adding 20 types of new activities to them. Shri Shah said that the Central Government has prepared model bye-laws and sent them to all the states and 23 states of the country have accepted these model bye-laws.

The Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that the government led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has created a Multistate Organic Cooperative Society which will make arrangements to buy organic agricultural produce across the country and sell it in the world market. A multistate cooperative society for export was also formed, which will export the products of the farmers and its entire profit will go directly to the farmer. Apart from this, a Multistate Cooperative Seed Committee has also been formed. He said that the world’s largest food grain storage scheme will also be implemented through PACS. Along with this, a cooperative university is also going to come up soon, arrangements have also been made to sell the products of all cooperatives through GEM and 1100 new FPOs will also be formed through PACS. He said that PACS will now be able to work as CSC also.

Shri Amit Shah said that the government at the centre led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has also brought many administrative changes. He said that for the first time after independence, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has brought both cooperative and corporate at the same level in terms of income tax. He said that if we take forward the activities of cooperatives by combining them with modern technology as tune with the changing times, then there is no better way to develop the economy along with employment generation in a country like India. He said that the government led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is going to take many new steps in the cooperative sector in the coming days. He said that do not assume that the cooperative has become irrelevant, rather the future of the cooperative is going to be brighter.