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Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah on Saturday inaugurated the newly constructed Bio-CNG and Fertiliser Plant built by Banas Dairy in Vav-Tharad district of Gujarat and laid the foundation stone for a 150-ton powder plant, said an official release from the Ministry of Cooperation.

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On this occasion, Gujarat Assembly Speaker Shankar Chaudhary, Union Ministers of State for Cooperation Krishan Pal Gurjar and Murlidhar Mohol, Union Cooperation Secretary Dr Ashish Kumar Bhutani, along with many other dignitaries, were present.

Addressing the programme, Amit Shah said that the journey started by Galbabhai Nanjibhai Patel, who founded Banas Dairy in Banaskantha, has gradually grown to such an extent that today the dairy has a turnover of up to Rs 24,000 crore. He said that wherever he goes across the country, he proudly declares that the task of making Gujarat's villages prosperous has been accomplished by the mothers and sisters of the state. "The farmers of this region, especially the pioneers of the cooperative movement, the chairmen of village-level milk societies, and the directors of Banas Dairy, may not even realise what a massive miracle they have achieved," he added. He added that building a Rs 24,000-crore company is a task that would make even the biggest corporate houses break into a sweat, yet the women and farmers of Banaskantha have built a Rs 24,000-crore company in the blink of an eye.

Amit Shah said that today he has brought with him Members of Parliament from both Houses of the Indian Parliament -- Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. He said that in the coming January, around 250 Chairmen and Managing Directors of dairies from across the country are coming to Banaskantha to personally witness the miracle that has unfolded in this cooperative dairy sector.

A Region Transformed by Water

He recalled that when he used to visit this region after the drought of 1985-87, and asked the farmers, they would say they could grow only one crop in the entire year. "But now, the farmer of Banaskantha grows three crops in a year -- groundnut, potato, pearl millet (bajra) in summer, and also takes the kharif crop. Just twenty-five years ago, cultivating three crops in Banaskantha was nothing more than a dream," he added. The Union Minister of Cooperation further said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensured the availability of water in the regions of Gujarat where it was scarce by diverting surplus water from areas where it was abundant." He said that under the Sujalam-Sufalam Scheme, excess water from the Narmada and Mahi rivers was brought to Banaskantha. Earlier, farmers here had to work as labourers on others' fields. Today, the same farmer has turned his land into paradise and made the entire Banaskantha prosperous.

Shah said, "It has never been our tradition or habit to fully document or write the history of any great achievement we accomplish." Shah said that he has assigned two universities the responsibility of preparing a detailed, well-documented research of the water conservation efforts in Banaskantha and Mehsana, the prosperity brought by water, and the transformation that has come into people's lives as a result. He said that the hard work of Banaskantha will be written in golden letters and will emerge as a source of inspiration in the entire history of rural development across the country.

Contribution of Women and Transparent System

Furthermore, he said that the most heartening aspect is the immense contribution of women in this achievement. "In this massive Rs 24,000-crore business, the entire hard work of collecting milk collection has been done by the hands of the sisters, daughters and mothers of Banaskantha." He added that these women have presented the most vibrant and the greatest living example before all the NGOs of the world that keep talking about women's empowerment. Such a transparent system has been established that, without any movement or slogan, the full payment for their milk reaches directly into the bank accounts of these mothers and sisters every week.

Legacy of Banas Dairy and its Founder

Moreover, he said that Banas Dairy has now become Asia's largest milk-producing dairy, and Galba Kaka (Galbabhai Nanjibhai Patel) has an immense contribution in this achievement. Galba Kaka was a personality whose heart was filled only with the welfare of farmers. The journey that began in 1960 with milk societies from just eight villages of only two talukas -- Vadgam and Palanpur -- has today reached a turnover of Rs 24,000 crore. "The core mantra of the tradition started by Galbabhai Patel was very simple: "We may have little money, but we have a huge number of people," Shah said, adding that Galbabhai's idea of many people contributing small amounts to accomplish big things has grown into a gigantic banyan tree, which is today inspiring not only India's cooperative movements but cooperative movements across the entire world.

Tributes to National Icons

He also said that today is the death anniversary of Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar. "The Constitution given to this country by Baba Saheb has created such a strong system that Dalits, the poor, tribals and backward classes can also live a life of dignity and respect. He offered his heartfelt tribute to Baba Saheb." Shah further said that today also marks the concluding ceremony of the grand padyatra being organised across Gujarat as part of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of the Iron Man, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. He said that the very concept of farmers and cooperation was Sardar Saheb's own idea. Gujarat embraced it, and today that idea has grown into a gigantic banyan tree.

Shift to Circular Economy and High-Value Products

Union Minister of Cooperation also said that today several new initiatives have been launched here, including the inauguration of the Bio-CNG plant and milk powder plant, as well as the dedication of a state-of-the-art protein plant and a high-tech automated paneer plant. He said the tradition of establishing a Bio-CNG plant started by Banas Dairy will become a model for cooperative societies across the country. He said that the innovative experiments Banas Dairy has conducted in the circular economy will be showcased to the Members of Parliament who are part of the consultative committee. Shah added that until now, under Amul's leadership, Gujarat's dairies have been collecting milk, processing it into products, selling them, and directly transferring the profits into the bank accounts of sisters and farmers -- in this, we have been ahead of the entire world. But now the time has come to transform the dairy sector completely into a circular economy. Shah emphasised that not even a single gram of cow or buffalo dung should go to waste -- it should be converted into organic manure, bio-gas, and electricity, and the income generated from it should also go back to the farmer.

He said that there are many high-value dairy products in the world that are not yet being manufactured in India. The Union Home Minister announced that he is handing over a complete list of such products to the Chairman of Amul today itself so that their production can begin immediately. These products command very high prices and have huge demand in the global market. If, instead of only producing curd, ghee and paneer, we focus on these high-value products, our farmer brothers and sisters will earn many times more profit. Amit Shah said that now, along with dairy, we must start producing biogas and bio-CNG. He further said that from now on, cooperative dairies across India will no longer purchase animal feed from the open market; it will also be produced at the cooperative level, and the profit earned from manufacturing animal feed will go directly into the bank accounts of our sisters. He assured that the entire ecosystem required for this, including technology and financing, has already been put in place by the Government of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

National Cooperative Framework for Future Growth

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that for the benefit of farmers, "the Government of India has formed three new national-level cooperatives: one for seed production and distribution, one for marketing of organic products, and one for agricultural exports. At the same time, three national-level multi-state cooperatives have been created specifically for the dairy sector." He said that these six cooperative institutions together will now cover every aspect of agriculture and animal husbandry -- whether it is making cheese, protein, dairy whitener, khoya, ice-cream, baby food; packaging edible oil, producing flour, honey, running cold storages, potato chips, seed production, or manufacturing animal feed -- all these activities will come under the dairy economy, and the entire profit will reach directly into the accounts of the livestock farmers. This is the clear and firm plan of the Government of India.

Shah said that he assures the brothers and sisters of Banaskantha that within five years, the benefits from increased milk production alone will be significant, but even with the current volume of milk production, their income will be increased by at least 20 per cent through the circular economy model. A detailed plan for this has been prepared, and it is very fortunate that the headquarters of Banas Dairy will be the center of this entire detailed planning. He expressed confidence that this model for increasing the income of livestock farmers and farmers, like those in Banaskantha, will be successful throughout the country.

Vision for White Revolution 2.0

Amit Shah said, "Every village milk cooperative has been provided with a micro-ATM, which has made the process of handling frozen semen much easier. In the coming days, financial services will also be launched through these micro-ATMs." He said that Prime Minister Modi has set several ambitious targets for White Revolution 2.0, and he is confident that with the support of the four pillars - the National Gokul Mission, the Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund, the restructured National Dairy Plan, and the National Animal Disease Control Programme - White Revolution 2.0 will definitely be successful. He added that the tradition established by Banas Dairy will not be limited to Banaskantha alone; it will become a source of prosperity for millions of livestock farmers across the entire country. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)