Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that ‘World’s Largest Grain Storage Plan in Cooperative Sector’ launched today will result in thousands of warehouses and godowns in every corner of the country. Launching multiple key initiatives for the Cooperative sector at Bharat Mandapam in Delhi, Mr Modi said the world’s largest storage plan of 700 lakh metric tons will be completed in the next five years at a cost of 1.25 lakh crore rupees. He said that it would enable farmers to store their produce and sell it at the right time according to their own needs while also helping to avail loans from banks.
The Prime Minister also laid foundation stone for additional 500 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) across the country for construction of godowns and other agri infrastructure and a project for computerization in 18 thousand PACS across the country. He underlined that cooperatives are an ancient concept for India. He said that through the new Cooperation Ministry, the government aims to bring together the fragmented powers of the agricultural sector of India. The Prime Minister reiterated the government’s goal of establishing two lakh cooperative societies in the coming years.
Giving the example of Farmers Producers Organisation, the Prime Minister noted the growing entrepreneurship among the small farmers in villages. He said beacoause of a separate Ministry, eight thousand FPOs out of a target of 10 thousand FPOs are already functional in the country. More than 25 thousand cooperative units are functional in the fishery sector.
Mr Modi highlighted that a large number of women are involved in agriculture and dairy cooperatives and modernization of agriculture systems is a must for Viksit Bharat. The Prime Minister cited the success stories of Amul and Lijjat Papad as the power of cooperatives and also highlighted the central role of women in these enterprises.
