Sahkar se Samriddhi: The rural economy’s new chapter on the road to Viksit Bharat

Five years ago, on the 6th of July, the country gained something it had waited three-quarters of a century for. A sector woven into the daily lives of crores of farmers, dairy producers and rural families, and yet without a home of its own since Independence, finally received a dedicated Ministry of Cooperation. That was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s answer to a long-standing gap, and he placed the new Ministry in the hands of Amitbhai Shah, our resolute Home Minister, whose four decades in the movement run the full length of it, from the village PACS to the apex bank. Under the mantra of Sahkar se Samriddhi, prosperity through cooperation, the journey that began that day has today reached a defining moment of renewed purpose.

India is home to the largest cooperative ecosystem in the world, some 8.5 lakh institutions binding together more than thirty crore members, and that scale is a source of genuine pride. Yet the true measure of these five years is not the tally of societies. It is the modernity, transparency and credibility the sector has gained, qualities that numbers alone cannot capture.

A Foundation of Transparency and Technology

More than a hundred and forty concrete initiatives have taken shape in these five years, and the most far-reaching of them begins at the village. The strengthening of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies, the PACS, is the foundation of every endeavour that follows. Model bye-laws, drawn up with every State on board, have brought a common standard and openness to their working, and the PACS has grown beyond a mere lender into a multi-service hub delivering more than twenty-five activities.

Computerisation is driving that transformation, with over eighty thousand PACS now being brought online. Jan Aushadhi Kendras, subsidised grain, petrol pumps, gas distribution and piped-water schemes increasingly flow through these very village institutions.

The ambition is larger still: two lakh new multi-purpose cooperatives across the country, of which more than thirty-five thousand have already been formed and are in operation.

Trust follows accountability, and the governance architecture has been rebuilt to match. Timely amendments to the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act have deepened transparency, a Cooperative Election Authority now ensures elections that are free, fair and on time, and a Cooperative Ombudsman gives members a swift route to redress. For the first time, the country also has a National Cooperative Database, a tool that identifies where the scope for new cooperatives is greatest, so that their growth can be guided evenly into every region.

Cooperation Takes Flight into New Sectors

The approach of our government can be summed up in a single phrase, beej se bazaar tak, from seed to market. The idea is to bring the entire value chain, from the moment a farmer sows to the day the harvest is sold, under one cooperative umbrella. Three national multi-state societies now carry that idea forward. The Bharatiya Beej Sahkari Samiti Limited (BBSSL) is working to preserve and revive indigenous seed varieties; the National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL) certifies and markets produce under the Bharat Organics brand; and the National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL) opens a direct line to world markets, even for the smallest grower. The design has a deliberate elegance: any cooperative, from a village PACS to an apex institution, can join all three.

The financial base of this chain has been reinforced too. Urban cooperative banks now stand behind an apex body of their own, the National Urban Cooperative Finance and Development Corporation (NUCFDC), which pools liquidity, technology and professional guidance for smaller banks, while NABARD’s Sahkar Sarthi initiative brings the same technological strength to rural cooperative banks. Sahkar Taxi hands drivers a direct share of the profits, and the way has opened for cooperatives to grow at the multi-state level in insurance and livestock as well.

Parity with commercial banks, higher home-loan limits and equal tax treatment have together left these institutions with far more to invest.

The scale of intent shows plainly in the fund allocations. Across the five decades from 1963 to 2014, the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) extended roughly `55,000 crore in assistance; in the eleven years from 2014 to 2025, that figure has crossed `4.5 lakh crore. Few numbers capture the pace and reach of the Modi government’s commitment to the sector quite so clearly.

White Revolution 2.0 and a Cooperative University

For the first time since the 1970s, a fresh push of this magnitude has been mounted. White Revolution 2.0 sets out to lift milk procurement by half over the next five years, and it does so with women at its centre, a firm and practical route to the economic empowerment of rural households. Alongside it, April 2025 saw the nation’s first-ever National Cooperative University, the Tribhuvan Sahkari University, open its doors, an institution that will supply the sector with trained professionals and the leaders of tomorrow.

Tying these threads together is the National Cooperative Policy 2025, the first such national policy the country has seen since 2002, and the defining marker of this phase. It is a comprehensive charter of resolve, one that carries cooperation into fresh territory, insurance, tourism and green energy among it, and binds the sector to the larger national goals.

Antyodaya: A Parallel Path of Development

At the heart of this government’s thinking sits Antyodaya, the rise of the last person in the queue. Guided by the Integral Humanism of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, our guide and inspiration, we are building a model in which the rural economy is given a stage as strong and as parallel as the urban industrial one. Industry and investment drive the cities; cooperation draws villages, farmers and the landless poor into the economic mainstream. The two are not rivals; they are partners, and that conviction runs through everything we do.

Drawing its strength from the principle of one member, one vote rather than from capital, cooperation is democracy in its economic form. Through model bye-laws, seats on cooperative boards are now assured for women and for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and weaker sections, reinforcing equality and equal opportunity where it counts most. Cooperation, in the end, is more than a business; it is a road to social justice and inclusive growth.

Towards the Future with Confidence

Five years are only the opening chapter in the life of any institution. Yet the pace and the breadth of what the Ministry of Cooperation has achieved in that short span are without precedent. The sector will grow faster still, reach further, and multiply its share of the national economy many times over, of that there can be no doubt.

Built on transparency, a readiness to embrace technology and a member-first way of working, the cooperative sector is set to become the engine of a rural India advancing towards a developed nation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Sahkar se Samriddhi and his resolve of Viksit Bharat 2047, carried by the resolute leadership of Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amitbhai Shah, is steadily taking shape.

Carrying prosperity to the very last person is a journey we must all make together, with the same faith and the same energy. On this occasion, that is our resolve.

The writer is Union Minister of State for Cooperation and Civil Aviation; Views presented are personal.