Amit Shah to launch several projects as Ministry of Cooperation completes five years
Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah will lay the foundation stone for 47 grain storage godowns and inaugurate several major projects on Monday (July
Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah will lay the foundation stone for 47 grain storage godowns and inaugurate several major projects on Monday (July 6, 2026) on the occasion of the completion of five years of the Ministry of Cooperation, a government statement said. The Minister, among other initiatives, would also launch a centralised core banking platform, and Sahakar Sahyogi, a conversational AI-powered platform for Urban Cooperative Banks. The Ministry emphasised cooperation with States as a key pillar of implementing its initiatives over the past five years, a Ministry official said on Sunday (July 5, 2026). The Ministry of Cooperation aimed to increase milk procurement in the country by 50% over the next five years by expanding cooperative coverage, generating employment and empowering women under White Revolution 2.0, the official said. As part of the programme, more than 25,282 Dairy Cooperative Societies (DCSs) have been registered across 31 States and Union Territories. Cooperative societies had also been enabled to function as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samriddhi Kendras (PMKSKs) and Bank Mitras, while members of dairy cooperatives were being provided RuPay Kisan Credit Cards to improve access to affordable credit.
The Ministry further launched sustainability initiatives in the dairy sector, including the registration of new multi-State cooperatives for dairy inputs and manure management, alongside the creation of the Sardar Patel Cooperative Dairy Federation Limited (SPCDF), which aimed to connect over 20 lakh dairy farmers from more than 20,000 villages across 20 States to an organised cooperative structure, the official said. White Revolution 2.0 is among the 151 initiatives taken by the Ministry since its creation on July 6, 2021. Shah assumed charge as the first Minister of Cooperation and continued in office after the BJP-led NDA government came back to power in 2024. The official added that Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) could now open additional branches without prior Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approval, offer doorstep banking services and provide higher-value housing loans. Cooperative banks had also been brought under the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) framework, with credit guarantee cover of up to 85% of the loan amount.
The move reduced lending risks for cooperative banks, improved access to formal credit for small businesses, and allowed cooperative sector enterprises to obtain loans without pledging collateral, the official added. The eligibility criteria for cooperative banks to become Member Lending Institutions under the scheme were also relaxed, broadening their participation in credit delivery. The official added that the Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) had been strengthened by transforming them into multi-purpose rural institutions. Model by-laws were introduced to enable PACS to undertake more than 25 business activities, while a nationwide computerisation drive had brought over 63,000 PACS onto a common ERP-based platform, the official added. The government has also the creation of new PACS, dairy and fishery cooperatives, with more than 37,000 such societies registered since 2023. PACS have been integrated with a range of government services and schemes, including Common Service Centres (CSCs), PM Bharatiya Jan Aushadhi Kendras, PM Kisan Samriddhi Kendras, LPG distributorships, fuel outlets and rural water supply management, in an effort to make them the focal point of economic activity and service delivery in rural India.
The BriefWire