Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that the cooperative sector has the potential to give a pace to the nation's economy and will bring prosperity to the people in the country.
Shah was speaking at the inauguration of a milk powder plant and automated storage and retrieval system among other projects of Amul Dairy at Gujarat's Gandhinagar.
"When Prime Minister Narendra Modi started the Ministry of Cooperation, many people slammed the government calling it a hoax. I feel proud to be the first Cooperation Minister of the country," the Minister said.
"The cooperative sector has not only the potential to give a pace to the nation's economy but also will bring prosperity to the people in the country. And Amul is the biggest example of this," he said.
Earlier last month, Shah had said that cooperatives can make a huge contribution in making India a USD 5 trillion economy.
According to Amul's official website, in 1946, the farmers of the Kaira district in Gujarat went on a milk strike refusing to be cowed down by the cartel.
Under the inspiration of Sardar Patel, and the guidance of leaders like Morarji Desai and Tribhuvandas Patel, they formed their own cooperative in 1946.
"This co-operative, the Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers Union Ltd. began with just two village dairy co-operative societies and 247 litres of milk and is today better known as Amul Dairy," said the website.
( With inputs from ANI )
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