Gandhinagar (Gujarat) [India], July 5 (ANI): Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that after the formation of Tribhuvan Cooperative University, whose Bhoomi Poojan was performed by him in Gujarat's Anand, nepotism in cooperatives will come to an end, and transparency will prevail.

The Union Minister stated that previously, there was no proper system in place to train employees and members of cooperative societies for the development of the cooperative sector. He said that earlier, employees were given training after recruitment in the cooperative, but after the university's formation, only those who have undergone training will get jobs.

He said that in this university, the youth will not only learn technical expertise, accounting, scientific approach and all the qualities of marketing, but they will also learn the values of cooperation that the cooperative movement is for the Dalits, tribals and women of the country.

Shah said that many problems of the cooperative sector will be solved by this university.

In his address, Amit Shah said that today is a very important day for the cooperative sector, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has paid tribute to Tribhuvan Das Patel in a true sense. He said four years ago, Prime Minister Modi established the Ministry of Cooperation to instil hope in the lives of crores of poor and villagers of the country and to make them economically prosperous.

Since the establishment of the Ministry of Cooperation, the Ministry has undertaken 60 new initiatives over the last four years to promote the development, growth, and equitable development of the cooperative sector in India. Shah said that all these initiatives were taken to make the cooperative movement immortal, transparent, and democratic, to develop it, to increase the income of farmers through cooperation and to increase the participation of women's power and youth in the cooperative movement.

Shah said that today the foundation stone of India's first cooperative university, 'Tribhuvan' Sahkari University, has been laid in Anand. The university campus, spanning over 125 acres, will be built at a cost of Rs 500 crore. He said that laying the foundation stone of 'Tribhuvan' Sahkari University is an important initiative to fill all the gaps in strengthening the cooperative sector.

Amit Shah said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, the cooperative movement is progressing very fast across the country. He said that the foundation stone of this university is a revolutionary step under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi. Today, 40 lakh workers are associated with the cooperative movement across the country, 80 lakh are members of boards and 30 crore people, that is, every fourth person in the country, are associated with the cooperative movement.

Shah said that Prime Minister Modi has decided to form 2 lakh new Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) in the country, out of which 60 thousand new PACS will be formed by the end of this year. He said that 2 lakh PACS alone will have 17 lakh employees.

Similarly, many district dairies are being established, and the need for trained manpower for all these will also be fulfilled by 'Tribhuvan' Sahkari University. Shah said that this university would work on policy-making in cooperatives, data analysis and devising 5-year, 10-year and 25-year strategies for the development of cooperatives in the country.

The Union Home Minister said that research has also been linked with this university. This university will not only prepare cooperative employees but will also produce dedicated cooperative leaders, like Tribhuvan Das Ji, who will lead the cooperative sector in future.

Shah said that CBSE has added cooperative education as a subject in the curriculum of classes 9 to 12. The Gujarat government should also add cooperative subjects to its curriculum so that common people can know about cooperatives.

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that the 'Tribhuvan' Sahkari University has been named after Tribhuvan Das Kishi Das Patel. He stated that the foundation of this cooperative university has been laid to promote transparency, accountability, research, and the spirit of cooperative federalism. (ANI)