Augment milk cooperative coverage to 50 pc villages, HM Shah tells MP govt

Bhopal, April 13 (IANS) Union Minister of Home Affairs and Cooperation, Amit Shah, has called upon the Madhya Pradesh government to breathe new life into the dormant cooperative systems neglected under the previous Congress regime.

Speaking in Bhopal on Sunday, he asserted the need to ensure that at least 50 per cent of villages in the state establish functioning milk cooperatives. With fervent admiration, Union Minister Shah lauded the state’s partnership with the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), forged on Sunday to elevate milk cooperative networks and revolutionise the dairy industry.

Addressing the gathering, HM Shah lamented the fact that while Madhya Pradesh boasts a daily milk production of 3.3 crore litres, only 17 per cent of villages have access to cooperative milk collection facilities. He observed, with concern, that a mere 2.5 per cent of this milk reaches cooperatives.

The newly minted agreement between Madhya Pradesh and NDDB has opened promising avenues for expanding cooperative coverage to 83 per cent of villages, thereby unlocking untapped potential. Despite the urban milk demand of 1.20 crore litres daily, farmers have yet to reap equitable profits -- a predicament the agreement seeks to remedy within the next five years by targeting the establishment of cooperatives in half of the state's villages.

The Union Home Minister underscored the importance of increasing the number of the existing 7,000 rural milk cooperatives, which demand substantial enhancement to broaden their reach and efficacy. He assured unwavering support from the Central Government to aid Madhya Pradesh in this transformative journey.

Moreover, HM Shah termed this moment as a golden opportunity to rejuvenate defunct cooperatives from past regimes, setting ambitious targets to bolster milk production, particularly through processed milk products such as cheese and paneer. He also criticised previous Congress governments, which saw stagnation in cooperative movements marred by administrative neglect and defunct systems.

“For decades, legal reforms were neglected, leaving the cooperative sector languishing without proper institutional support. It was only under the stewardship of the Modi government that the Ministry of Cooperation was established, seventy-five years after Independence, paving the way for landmark reforms such as model bylaws. The nationwide adoption of these bylaws has infused new vitality into primary cooperative societies. Today, these societies -- once limited to providing short-term agricultural loans -- have diversified their operations, including managing medical services, petrol pumps, railway ticketing, and electricity bill payments,” the Home Minister said.

Madhya Pradesh leads the nation in computerising Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS), linking them to NABARD and other institutions, fostering inclusive growth across linguistic and cultural divides.

As the state embarks on this ambitious journey on Sunday by inking the deal with NDDB, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav announced the state's determination to double milk processing capacity within five years, thereby empowering dairy producers and strengthening their cooperatives.

The Chief Minister noted that the Madhya Pradesh Cabinet has already approved the agreement, which will span an initial period of five years, with an option for extension based on mutual consent. This collaboration with NDDB, armed with a budget allocation of Rs 1,447 crore, marks a new dawn for the dairy sector-- a mission poised to enhance the livelihoods of farmers and usher in an era of prosperity.

--IANS

sktr/uk