On July 6, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took an unprecedented step that signalled a structural shift in India’s approach to rural development: the creation of a dedicated Ministry of Cooperation. This wasn’t just administrative tinkering; it was a visionary move rooted in the age-old Indian philosophy of collective prosperity: Sahkar se Samriddhi. For the first time in independent India’s history, cooperatives were given their rightful place at the centre of the policy map.

This bold reorganisation acknowledged a long-standing truth, that India’s cooperative sector, which had been operating under the shadow of the Ministry of Agriculture, required focused attention, tailored governance, and independent innovation. PM Modi’s decision, often underrated in media narratives, has over the past three years begun to radically transform India’s rural economic landscape.

At the heart of this transformation stands Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah, a leader with deep ideological and administrative roots in Gujarat’s cooperative ecosystem. His dual role in managing both internal security and cooperative development is not a contradiction; it reflects the Modi government’s belief that rural empowerment and national strength are deeply intertwined.

Before 2021, India’s vast network of over 800,000 cooperatives functioned under a fragmented policy regime, underfunded, poorly digitised, and devoid of strategic direction. The Ministry of Cooperation swiftly altered this situation. No longer were cooperatives just a rural relic; they were recast as engines of growth for a $5 trillion economy.

One of the most far-reaching reforms has been the computerisation of 63,000 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS). Often the first point of contact for........

© News18