Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said the Central government will right away come out with a new cooperative policy and work in cooperation with states to strengthen the cooperative movement. He also announced that the number of primary agriculture cooperatives will be increased to 3 lakh in the next five years. Currently, there are about 65,000 primary agriculture cooperatives. He was speaking at the first Sehkarita Sammelan or National Cooperative Conference here.

Addressing the gathering comprising over 2,100 representatives of different cooperatives and nearly 6 crore online participants, the Union minister said some people wonder why the Centre created this new ministry as the cooperatives are a state subject. He said,  there could be a legal response to it, but he does not want to ''get into this argument''. The Centre, he stressed, will cooperate with states and ''there will be no friction''.

Emphasising that the cooperative movement was more relevant today than ever, Shah said cooperatives can contribute a lot to the development of the country. He said, the cooperatives will play a crucial part in making India a USD 5 trillion economy. ''We will work with all states to take forward the cooperative movement,'' he said and added the Ministry of Cooperation has been formed to strengthen and modernize the sector.

On the proposed new cooperative policy, Shah said a policy was brought in 2002 by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and now the Modi government will start working on a new policy.

Sports Minister Anurag Thakur flags off cycle rally in Ladakh

BJP president JP Nadda pays floral tribute to Deendayal Upadhyaya

Noted women’s rights activist Kamla Bhasin passes away at 75