Setting a target for Amul to emerge as the world’s number one dairy company, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday said several decisions, including reducing the premium on livestock insurance, have been taken by his Cabinet to promote the sector.
“At present, Amul is the world’s eighth biggest dairy sector company. You all need to make it the world’s biggest dairy company. My government is with you in this endeavour, and it is Modi’s guarantee,” Modi said as he addressed a gathering of nearly one lakh people, mostly cattle-rearers and farmers, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera of Ahmedabad on the golden jubilee celebration of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which owns the Amul dairy brand.
He said of all the brands that have emerged in India after Independence, Amul is the most popular.
Notably, while Modi credited Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s leadership for laying the foundation of Amul, his speech did not find any mention of Tribhuvandas Patel, who is regarded as the father of the cooperative movement in India — including the Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union in 1946, or Dr Verghese Kurien, who was brought in to strengthen the dairy cooperative. Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union later introduced the brand Amul.
PM Narendra Modi during his visit to Kakrapar Atomic Power Station on Thursday. (PTI)
The PM lavished praises on women for being the “real backbone” of the country’s dairy sector. “Today, if we combine turnovers of paddy, wheat and sugarcane, then also it does not come to Rs 10 lakh crore whereas in the dairy sector, where turnover is Rs 10 lakh crore, 70 per cent workers are women. Today, the heights of success of Amul is only and only because of women power. Today, when India is moving forward with the mantra of women-led development, then India’s success story in the dairy sector is an inspiration,” he said.
Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation is a landmark occasion in its illustrious journey. https://t.co/4GR88NYhfE
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 22, 2024
Informing the crowd about various decisions his Cabinet took on Wednesday, Modi said: “For the prosperity of livestock (pashudhan)…we had a late night Cabinet meeting yesterday…(when) the BJP government took some important decisions. We have announced new ways to save indigenous breeds based on research carried out under the National Livestock Mission.”
“We also decided to extend financial aid to help bring wasteland to use as pastures. To help farmers spend less on insuring livestock, the government has decided to reduce the premium amount. These decisions will help in increase the population of cattle and incomes of cattle herders,” he added.
He also emphasised that his government was focusing on improving the lives of small farmers through various schemes and initiatives. He said strengthening the rural economy was necessary to achieve the goal of a ‘Viksit Bharat’ (developed India). Referring to the BJP government’s ambitious plan of creating 10,000 FPOs, or Farmer Producer Organisations, Modi said his government was on a mission to turn small farmers into “agri entrepreneurs and exporters”.
Modi virtually inaugurated six dairy projects at the event, including the new automatic UHT plant of Amul, cheese plant and whey powder manufacturing plant of Sabarkantha District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union Limited or Sabar Dairy.
At Navsari, where he inaugurated projects worth Rs 44,000 crore, Modi attacked the Congress over its comments about his caste and said the Opposition party has no agenda except abusing him, but this attitude will only strengthen the resolve to win more than 400 seats for the BJP-led NDA in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls.
“You have seen how Congress people abuse Modi’s caste. But Congress people forget that the more abuses they hurl, the stronger will be the resolve to cross 400 (Lok Sabha seats),” he said.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi recently sparked a controversy by saying, during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Odisha, that Modi was not born into an OBC family and belongs to the general category.
“The more mud they throw, the more gloriously 370 lotuses (BJP poll symbol) will bloom. Except for abusing Modi, the Congress has no other agenda for the future of the country,” the PM said.
Attacking Congress, he said, “During the Congress regime, India was at 11th position among strong economies. BJP had in the last 10 years made the economy stronger and brought India to the 5th spot.”
Alleging that Congress has “for decades done injustice to the country”, he added: “When nepotism, appeasement and corruption become the only goals of politics, then heritage is not taken into account. Unfortunately, the Congress has done injustice to the country for decades.”
“Today, the world listens to ‘Bharat ki samrudh virasat’. People are now interested to know more about India and they want to come to India. But the Congress kept the world away from India’s true virasat (heritage) for decades.”
“During the freedom struggle, Bapu (Mahatma Gandhi), at Dandi village in Navsari had broken salt law, Congress had forgotten the area… it was the BJP government that made a salt smarak in Dandi. They have also forgotten Sardar Patel, and till date not a single Congress leader has visited the Statue of Unity of Sardar Patel,” he further said.
-With PTI inputs
