The pain suffered by the cooperative movement due to past policies that did not take action, is almost dead: Shah

The alliance’s interior minister Amit Shah said in a cover-up scan conducted by a government led by the Congress on Sunday (April 13, 2025) that the cooperation movement has been in chaos as the law has not been adjusted for years and is “almost dead” before the Modi government takes decisive action.

Mr Shah said at the state-level cooperation meeting held in Bhopal that previous governments had never considered strengthening the cooperation sector.

By then, the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) signed an agreement with the Madhya Pradesh Cooperatives Dairy Federation to enhance milk production in the state.

“For years, the cooperative movement has been moving slowly and almost dead. Looking at the cooperative movement across the country, it’s unbalanced (the past),” he said.

Emphasizing the challenge, Mr. Shaa said that the cooperative movement still exists in chaos because the law has not been adjusted accordingly.

He said the movement only gained attention after 75 years of independence, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi set up a cooperative to strengthen the department.

Mr Shah accused the former central government of not promoting cooperation departments, saying this led to unbalanced growth.

“Positive Change”

Mr. Shaa said: “In some states, the momentum of this movement has gained momentum, and in some places, it has been destroyed. The main reason is that laws should change over time.

Mr Shah said there are many possibilities in the areas of agriculture, animal husbandry and cooperation, and he acknowledged the need to make more efforts to make the full use of these possibilities.

“Madhya Pradesh is seeing good governance now. During the Congressional regime, the cooperatives were almost dead. This is a huge opportunity for their revival and Madhya Pradesh should seize this opportunity,” he said.

Since cooperation is a national theme arranged in accordance with the constitution, no action has been taken to construct a cooperative law that adapts to the rapidly changing conditions across the country.

“From the overall perspective at the national level, this (scenario) does not take into account the cooperative,” he said.

“Issuing Model Constitution”

Mr Shaa said the centre was working within the constitutional framework and he said the coalition government had enacted a model charter for cooperatives and all states accepted cooperatives.

He said in gratitude to the states: “By accepting these model statutes that empower primary society, the states have given new life to the cooperative sector in India.”

Mr. Shah recalls how PAX (or PACS – Junior Agricultural Credit Association) worked in short-term agricultural finance in the past, and only made half of the profit.

“The same PAX is doing more work, thus increasing revenue. They are cheaper by joining Ayushman Bharat and participating in water distribution, which gives the public more than 300 government plans to join the CSC (General Service Center).

Mr. Shah praised the Madhya Pradesh government as the first government to computerize PAX in India.

The union minister said that in the past, only large farmers could engage in seed cultivation. However, the government has now expanded the opportunity for seed production to farmers with land holdings as small as two halves acres.

He stressed that the protection and promotion of seeds will be managed by a “seed cooperative” to ensure farmers get fair prices for their agricultural products.

Mr Shaa said that when it comes to milk production, Madhya Pradesh produces 550 million liters of milk, accounting for 9% of the country’s total milk production.

Exploiting dairy farmers on the open market

The minister highlighted the exploitation farmers face when selling milk on the open market. “To address this, the government aims to encourage farmers to sell milk through collaborative dairy products to ensure that profits benefit them directly,” he said.

He expressed confidence in the agreement between NDDB and MPSCDF will form a cooperative in about 50% of Madhya Pradesh villages, thus providing rapid benefits for farmers and animal herders.

Mr Shah said less than one-hundred of milk production in Madhya Pradesh comes from cooperative dairy products. The state’s surplus milk totals 350 million liters, of which the cooperative sector processes only 2.5% of the milk.

“In villages, only 17% of milk is collected. However, the agreement was signed on Sunday (April 13, 2025), paving 83% of the villages in the state for NDDB. In the next five years, the goal is to establish at least a primary milk production committee in the villages.”

He called for the rapid linking of every farmer with cooperative dairy products to produce milk, curd and buttermilk.

Mr Shah said the Modi government “stands like a rock” to support the expansion of the cooperative sector.

He added: “Through seed, organic and export cooperatives, farmers are getting fair prices for their agricultural products. These cooperatives provide farmers with a platform to enter the global market and deposit profits directly into their bank accounts. This is a significant achievement that benefits farmers, not traders.”