Key Points

Addressing a gathering on the occasion of the completion of four years of the Ministry of Cooperation, Shah said, "In the Cooperation Ministry's four years, more than 60 initiatives have been taken under the leadership of PM Modi, which are based on the five Ps."

Explaining the concept, he said, "The first P is 'people,' that is, the people of India will be the primary beneficiaries of these initiatives. The second P is 'pack', that is, we are strengthening the primary cooperative circles. The third P is 'platform', which means that, from digital to national platforms, we have worked to provide a range of cooperative activities. The fourth P is for policy. The fifth P is prosperity... Prosperity not of one person, but of the entire society. Prosperity not of a few rich people, but of the poor labourers and farmers."

The Union Minister further highlighted the role of transparency in sustaining the cooperatives. He urged all cooperative leaders to imbibe core values in their work.

Shah said, "Cooperatives cannot survive long without transparency... Where technology was not accepted, cooperatives could not survive in the face of competition. The cooperative institution in which the interest of the members was not considered paramount also ended... All of us cooperative leaders should inculcate these three values in our field of work."

The Ministry of Cooperation was established in July 2021 with the aim of realising the vision of 'Sahakar se Samriddhi' (prosperity through cooperation) and has since rolled out several schemes aimed at strengthening grassroots cooperative institutions.

According to the Ministry's official website, the Ministry is responsible for providing a separate administrative, legal and policy framework for strengthening the cooperative movement in country.

It aims to deepen co-operatives as a true people-based movement reaching up to the grassroots and develop a cooperative based economic model where each member works with a spirit of responsibility.

The principal activities of the Ministry include streamlining processes for 'Ease of doing business' for co-operatives and enabling development of Multi-State Co-operative Societies.

It lays emphasis on strengthening, bringing transparency, modernization, computerization, creating competitive cooperatives, working constantly to meet the challenge of accessibility to development for every underprivileged in rural areas and on connecting every village with cooperatives, making every village prosperous with the mantra of "Sahakar se Samriddhi" and through this making the country prosperous.

- ANI