Cooperatives in India now medium for innovation, self-reliance: Amit Shah to UN

Cooperatives in India have gone beyond their traditional boundaries and are now a medium for innovation and selfreliance in areas such as digital services energy and financial inclusion Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah told the UNShah delivered a prerecorded video message on Monday at a special commemorative event on Cooperatives and Sustainable Development Maintaining momentum and exploring new avenuesIn India cooperation is a vibrant and communitydriven system that envelopes every sector from agriculture to finance from consumption to construction and from rural empowerment to digital inclusion through mutual collaboration and democratic participation Shah saidIts unique strength lies in the fact that it delivers benefits at the local level while also becoming a powerful medium for providing dignified livelihoods in rural and underdeveloped areasShah said the events theme reflects that the idea of cooperation is not only relevant in todays modern world but is also essential for sustainable and inclusive developmentIn India cooperatives have now gone beyond their traditional boundaries and have become a medium for innovation and selfreliance in areas such as digital services healthcare education energy organic farming and financial inclusion he saidShah said that technological innovation is making cooperatives more inclusive todayThe Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations in collaboration with the Permanent Mission of Kenya and the Permanent Mission of Mongolia to the United Nations organised the event to mark the International Year of Cooperatives 2025 at the United Nations HeadquartersShah voiced his firm belief that the principles of cooperatives their values and their peoplecentric approach make them one of the most impactful models of humancentred developmentThe Ministry of Cooperation was established in July 2021 and Shah became the first Minister of Cooperation of the country He said the setting up of the Ministry of Cooperation in 2021 has proven to be a historic and decisive stepToday over 840000 cooperative societies in the country have more than 320 million members actively engagedWith a view to making cooperative products globally competitive India has set up three multistate cooperative societies Bharatiya Beej Sahkari Samiti Limited BBSSL National Cooperative Organics Limited NCOL and National Cooperative Exports Limited NCELThe objectives of these societies are to provide farmers with direct access to global markets quality inputs branding marketing and a fair share in export profitsThese institutions represent powerful steps toward transforming producers from local to global Shah said at the event which was attended by representatives of UN member states UN agencies senior government officials cooperative leaders and other key stakeholders from around the worldCooperation is laying a strong foundation of service selfreliance employment and innovation ensuring that every Indian becomes both a participant in and beneficiary of development This model is offering a clear and strong identity to Indias concept of inclusive development on the global stage he saidShah pointed out that India has recently established the Tribhuvan Sahkari University which will serve as a hub for education research innovation and leadership development at the national level in the cooperative sectorAlongside this the formulation of the National Cooperation Policy marks a historic step toward making the cooperative movement more transparent accountable and futureoriented he saidHe further noted that Indias worldlargest grain storage plan is being implemented through cooperatives emphasising that this initiative not only strengthens food security but also ensures organised markets and increased prices for farmersIndias Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish highlighted the vital role played by the cooperative sector in Indias national growthNoting the steps taken by the Government of India to strengthen the cooperative sector including the National Cooperative Policy 202545 he stressed the need to use new and emerging technologies including Artificial Intelligence to make cooperatives more effective and capable of facing emerging new challengesManaging Director of National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd NAFED Deepak Agarwal gave a detailed presentation on the Indian cooperative sector highlighting the spirit of collaboration and shared ownership a press release issued by the Indian mission saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever