Seeking to increase footprint of cooperatives and strengthen dairy sector, home minister Amit Shah launched multiple initiatives, including White Revolution 2.0, nationwide rollout of RuPay Kisan Credit Cards for dairy farmers, and installation of micro-ATMs at dairy cooperative societies.
“No panchayat in the country will remain without PACS in coming years,” Shah said on the occasion, during which guidelines on forming and strengthening 200,000 new multi-purpose Primary Agriculture Credit Societies, and primary dairy and fishery cooperative societies in villages/ panchayats were released.
The key components of White Revolution 2.0 include four focus areas - empowering women dairy farmers, enhancing local milk production, strengthening dairy infra, and boosting dairy exports. The programme is one of the 10 initiatives undertaken in the first 100 days of Modi govt’s third term.
“Nearly 36,00,000 women in Gujarat are involved in the dairy sector, and they do total business worth £6 bn.
“This new initiative will focus on empowering women and further strengthening the fight against malnutrition,” Shah said.
Under White Revolution 2.0, the target of milk procurement by dairy co-op societies will be increased by 50% over the next five years by providing market access to dairy farmers in uncovered villages/ panchayats and increasing the share of the organised sector in milk procurement.
“We no longer need to import any dairy machinery from the Netherlands or Japan. Their 100% production will take place in India. In a way, we have moved ahead with the goal of becoming completely self-sufficient in the dairy sector,” Shah said. He also assured full budgetary support for the programme under White Revolution 2.0, saying it is a top priority sector for the govt.
