Science-led cooperative sector makes farming profitable, says Shah; takes jibe at Pawar

Malegaon, Jan 24 (PTI) Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Friday said agriculture becomes a profitable business when science is part of the cooperative sector.

Shah also took a swipe at NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, saying just becoming a leader is not enough and questioned his contribution to the key sector when he was the Agriculture Minister in the Congress-led UPA government (2004-2014).

''You also need to work on the ground," he said while addressing a meeting of the cooperative sector at Malegaon in north Maharashtra's Nashik district.

Shah, who also holds the home portfolio, pointed out that to emphasise on the importance of science, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had included 'Jai Vigyan' to former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri's famous slogan of 'Jai Jawan Jai Kisan' (hailing soldiers and farmers).

Agriculture becomes a profitable business when science is part of the cooperative sector, noted the minister.

He said a separate entity, Bharat Cooperative Organics Ltd (officially named National Cooperative Organics Ltd), has been set up under his ministry for packaging and marketing of organic farm products.

The minister insisted a strong cooperative sector denotes being 'Atmanirbhar' (self-reliant) in the truest sense.

Shah said there are 1.18 lakh members in the sector and his government had resolved several pending issues of the cooperation department, set up in July 2021.

"Tax worth Rs 46,000 crore of sugar mills has been reduced. New godowns have been set up, loans have been disbursed, steps have been taken for ethanol blending (as part of energy security push)," he opined.

Ethanol, a byproduct of sugarcane processing, can be mixed with petrol, cutting down on fossil fuel consumption and reducing harmful carbon emissions.

Shah hit out at Pawar saying when he was the Union Agriculture Minister for ten years, the cooperative sector was under his jurisdiction.

"What have you done for the sector... did you resolve the tax issues, form model bylaws regarding tax?'' he asked.

The Ministry of Cooperation was created as a separate entity by the Modi government in July 2021.

The ministry is responsible for providing a separate administrative, legal and policy framework for strengthening the cooperative movement in the country. PTI MR RSY

Source: PTI