Malegaon/Mumbai:
Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Friday raised questions over NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar’s contribution to the cooperative sector when he was the Union Agriculture Minister, saying that the Modi government has taken several steps to promote this sector.
While addressing two programs during his visit to Maharashtra, Amit Shah said that the ruling BJP led governments at the Center and Maharashtra will work to give a distinct identity to the cooperative sector and make it shine.
He said, “I want to ask you Pawar Saheb… You were the Agriculture Minister for 10 years during the UPA government and the Cooperative Department was under your jurisdiction. Tell the people of Maharashtra that you helped in the development of cooperative movement in the state, sugar mills, What have you done for tax, farmers, cooperative sector or made model bylaws regarding tax?
The veteran BJP leader launched a scathing attack on Pawar, who played a key role in the opposition alliance, saying, “It is not enough to become a leader by doing marketing…you need to work on the ground.”
Shah made this comment while addressing a meeting of the cooperative sector in Malegaon in Nashik district of North Maharashtra. He also attacked Pawar without naming him in another program organized in Mumbai in the evening.
Cooperation Minister Shah said at the Malegaon program that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has made many positive changes in the sector after forming a separate cooperation ministry in 2021.
“Modi set up the Ministry of Cooperation, drafted the ethanol policy for sugar mills, resolved their income tax issues and came up with model bylaws for taxation,” Shah said.
The Union Minister said that there are 1,465 urban cooperative banks in the country, half of which are located in Gujarat and Maharashtra alone. He said that the Ministry of Cooperation has resolved many issues related to urban cooperative banks with the Reserve Bank of India.
Shah said that when science becomes a part of the cooperative sector, agriculture becomes a profitable business. He said that a separate unit ‘Bharat Cooperative Organics Limited’ (officially National Cooperative Organics Limited) has been set up under the Ministry of Cooperation for packaging and marketing of organic agricultural products.
Shah said that a strong cooperative sector indicates true ‘self-reliance’. The sector has 1.18 lakh members and his government has resolved many pending issues of the cooperative department established in July, 2021.
He said, “Tax of sugar mills has been reduced by Rs 46,000 crore. New warehouses have been built, loans have been distributed, steps have been taken for ethanol blending.”
The Ministry of Cooperation is responsible for providing a separate administrative, legal and policy framework to strengthen the cooperative movement in the country.