In Jaipur on Thursday, Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma kicked off the Cooperative Membership Campaign, calling it a big step toward prosperity under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah’s guidance.
Sharma stressed that his state government aims to boost Rajasthan’s growth by powering up cooperatives, with a strong push for women and youth to get involved. The drive runs statewide from October 2 to 15, featuring camps at about 8,300 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) and five key departmental events. Officials hope to grow the number of cooperative societies by 10%.
The chief minister shared exciting plans: they’ll set up new PACS in 2,158 gram panchayats that don’t have them yet, and hand out land to village service cooperatives needing space for warehouses. To draw in more women, the effort will link pulses, spices, and other crops to these groups.
Sharma highlighted how cooperatives build social and cultural ties while delivering economic security to poor and middle-class families. He pointed to real wins, like short-term, interest-free crop loans totaling Rs 42,765 crore for over 7.7 million farmers. On top of that, Rs 433 crore went to 248,000 new farmers, and Rs 260 crore supported livelihoods for more than 30,000 people.
Under the Food Storage Scheme, places like Ghumudwali PACS in Sri Ganganagar now have warehouses, processing units, and custom hiring centers. Cooperative banks have also loaned Rs 246 crore in long-term funds to nearly 7,000 farmers and small business owners.
Sharma gave a shout-out to Modi for launching the Ministry of Cooperation in July 2021, turning cooperatives into a key driver of India’s development. In Rajasthan, over 7.6 million farmers have gained from the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, pocketing more than Rs 7,054 crore. The state chips in extra through the Chief Minister’s Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, offering Rs 3,000 yearly per farmer— with over Rs 1,355 crore already paid out.
He praised Amit Shah’s push to revamp the sector, noting more than 100 new initiatives in the past four years to strengthen PACS, dairy, fisheries, sugar cooperatives, and banks. They’re even computerizing PACS nationwide via a unified software network. Looking ahead, the goal is to establish over 200,000 multipurpose PACS, dairy, and fisheries cooperatives in villages across India within five years. This ties into the world’s largest decentralized grain storage plan, which includes building warehouses and storage centers.
Turning to animal husbandry—the backbone of rural prosperity—Sharma touted the Gopal Credit Card Loan Scheme, which offers interest-free loans up to Rs 1 lakh for dairy work. Mobile veterinary units now help care for livestock on the go.
Water projects are making a difference too: the Ram Jal Setu Link Project, Yamuna Water Agreement, and Dewas Project expansion are improving irrigation and clean drinking water access.
The government has handed out job letters to 91,000 young people so far, eyeing 400,000 government jobs in five years.
Animal Husbandry and Dairy Minister Joraram Kumawat spoke at the event, capturing the cooperative spirit as “one for all, all for one.” He promised the campaign would surpass dairy membership targets, especially by boosting women’s roles. Kumawat added that Sharma has budgeted over Rs 700 crore to fortify Rajasthan’s dairy sector.
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