• Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah said the cooperative sector has a potential to turn India into a $5 trillion economy and will also prove crucial in making the agriculture sector self-reliant.  

• He also stressed the need to implement the cooperative model, which is behind the success of milk giant Amul, to uplift agriculture and its allied sectors.

• Shah launched a scheme — Dairy Sahakar — with an outlay of Rs 5,000 crore, wherein the dairy sector would get loans through National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC).

• To commemorate the 75th anniversary of Amul, Shah released a postal stamp, launched the Amul brand of organic fertilisers and awarded progressive farmers. The minister also inaugurated an Ethnoveterinary Supplement Plant and cheese storage facility in Gujarat.

Key points on Dairy Sahakar:

• The Dairy Sahakar with a total investment of  Rs 5,000 crore will be  implemented by National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) under the ministry of cooperation to realise the vision “from cooperation to prosperity”.

• Under Dairy Sahakar, financial support will be extended by NCDC to eligible cooperatives for activities such as bovine development, milk procurement, processing, quality assurance, value addition, branding, packaging, marketing, transportation and storage of milk and milk products, exports of dairy products.

• There will also be a convergence with various schemes of government of India and/or of state government/UT administration/ development agencies/ bilateral/multilateral assistance/ CSR mechanism is encouraged.

• The department of animal husbandry is also implementing various schemes. Dairy Sahakar will supplement the existing efforts for strengthening the dairy sector in the country.

National Cooperative Development Corporation

• National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), a statutory corporation under the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare was established in 1963 under an Act of Parliament (NCDC Act of 1962) for economic development through cooperative societies. 

• The major objective of the Corporation is to promote, strengthen and develop the farmers cooperatives for increasing production and productivity and instituting post harvest facilities. 

• The Corporation’s focus is on programmes of agricultural marketing and inputs, processing, storage, cold chain and marketing of agriculture produce and supply seeds, fertiliser and other agricultural inputs. 

• In the non-farm sector, the Corporation’s endeavour is to equip cooperatives with facilities to promote income generating activities, with special focus on weaker sections.

• NCDC can finance projects in the rural industrial cooperative sectors and for certain notified services in rural areas like water conservation, irrigation and micro irrigation, agri-insurance, agro-credit, rural sanitation, animal health, etc.

• Besides its head office in New Delhi, NCDC functions through 18 regional/state directorates.

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