'I only state what I have done...,' says PM Modi during 17th Indian Cooperative Congress in New Delhi

17th Indian Cooperative Congress: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday attended the 17th Indian Cooperative Congress organised in the national capital. PM Modi addressed the people attending the 17th Indian Cooperative Congress, which is being organised on July 1 and 2, 2023. A separate Ministry of Cooperation was created by the government to strengthen the cooperatives' ecosystem.

During the event, PM Modi said that his government is spending around Rs 6.5 lakh crore per year on agriculture and farmers. "This means that every year the government is providing an average of Rs 50,000 to every farmer in some form or the other. "That is, in the BJP government, farmers are guaranteed to get Rs 50,000 every year in different ways. This is Modi's guarantee," he said.

PM-KISAN scheme

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 17th Indian Cooperative Congress, said, "Now, crores of small farmers are receiving benefits under the PM-KISAN scheme without any interference from middlemen. In the last 4 years, a direct transfer of Rs 2.5 lakh crore has been made into the bank accounts of farmers under this scheme."

"We have moved from less than Rs 90,000 crore spent in 5 years for the agriculture sector before 2014 to having a single scheme, PM KISAN Samman Nidhi that is spending 3 times the amount," he added.

India's dominance in Digital Transactions

At the 17th Indian Cooperative Congress, he stressed that his government has promoted Digital India, enabling direct benefits to reach beneficiaries directly. "The aim is also to eliminate the dependency on cash transactions. India's dominance in Digital Transactions has become our identity in the world. This needs to be incorporated in our Cooperative sector as well," he asserted.

Moreover, PM Modi said that Indian produce is in demand in the world, "Milk powder to butter to ghee, our Indian produce is in demand in the world. A new market is being formed for our millets. Our Shree Anna can be a great opportunity to earn for our small farmers."

25,000 cooperative sectors are working in the fisheries sector

Highlighting the fisheries sector he said, "Today over 25,000 cooperative sectors are working in the fisheries sector. This is improving the lives of our fishermen and improving their earning capacity. Inland fisheries have also seen a growth of 2 times in the last 9 years."

Amit Shah while speaking at the 17th Indian Cooperative Congress, said "The cooperative movement is about 115 years old in our country. Since independence, the main demand of the workers of the cooperative sector was that the Ministry of Cooperation should be made separate. After PM Modi was re-elected as the Prime Minister in 2019, he constituted a separate Ministry of Cooperation."

The objective of the Indian Cooperative Congress is to discuss various trends in the cooperative movement, showcase best practices being adopted, deliberate challenges being faced and chalk out future policy direction for growth of India's cooperative movement.