Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the EARTH Summit 2025 at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. During the event, he unveiled more than 13 new digital services and products under the Sahakar Sarathi platform, including Digi KCC, Campaign Sarathi, Website Sarathi, Cooperative Governance Index, ePACS, the world’s largest Grain Storage Application, Shiksha Sarathi, and the Sarathi Technology Forum.
The event was attended by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Assembly Speaker Shankarbhai Chaudhary, Agriculture and Cooperation Minister Jitu Vaghani, NAFED Chairman Jethabhai Aahir, Cooperation Secretary Dr. Ashish Kumar Bhutani, Gujarat State Cooperative Bank Chairman Ajay Patel, NABARD Chairman Shaji K.V., and several other dignitaries.
Strengthening Rural India Through Cooperatives
In his address, Amit Shah said that the EARTH Summit is the second in a series of three national-level summits focused on rural economic transformation. He noted that the discussions across all three summits will lead to policy solutions covering key issues of four ministries involved in rural economic development, with a consolidated policy framework to be presented next year in Delhi.
Referring to Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of Gram Swaraj, Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is reviving and implementing this principle by placing rural development at the centre of national growth. He stressed that agriculture, animal husbandry, and cooperatives—long neglected sectors—are now receiving unprecedented attention since 2014.
Panchayat-Level Cooperatives and Tripling Cooperative GDP Contribution
Shah announced that the government has set a target to establish at least one cooperative institution in every panchayat and to create over 50 crore cooperative members in the coming years. The goal, he said, is to triple the cooperative sector’s contribution to India’s GDP.
“No citizen will be left behind—whether it is a woman engaged in animal husbandry or a small farmer,” he added.
Gujarat’s Model: Low-Cost Deposits and Integrated Cooperative Networks
Highlighting Gujarat’s Cooperation Among Cooperatives model, Shah said this framework has led to thousands of crores in low-cost deposits, helping expand the credit capacity of the cooperative sector nearly fivefold.
Under this model, markets, dairies, PACS, and all cooperative institutions operate under a unified district-level umbrella. Cooperative accounts and savings are kept within cooperative banks, increasing liquidity and strengthening financial stability. He said this model will soon be implemented nationwide.
A detailed roadmap is being prepared to ensure 100% utilization of priority sector lending by learning from Gujarat and Banaskantha models.
