Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah has recently performed the Bhoomi Poojan of the country’s first cooperative university, “Tribhuvan Sahkari University” in Anand (Gujarat). The university will fill the mega vacuum of education, training and innovation in the co-operative movement. Due to this, India is to become a stronghold of co-operation in the whole world.

The university will end nepotism in co-operatives, bring transparency and those who get training from the co-operative university will get employment. Here, the youth will get to learn technical expertise, accounting, scientific approach and marketing as well as the values of co-operation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid sincere tribute to Tribhuvan Das Patel, who is an ideal example of how much one can contribute towards nation building while working as a co-operative leader for the welfare of its every member. ‘Tribhuvan Das’ is the most appropriate name of a cooperative university that is going to be established for the development of transparency, accountability, research and the spirit of co-operative federalism.

Due to such a vision, the co-operative dairy of India is standing tall in front of all private dairies of the world. Union Minister Shah appeals cooperative training experts from across the country to join this university and contribute. He shared that the Ministry of Cooperation is established to instil hope in the lives of crores of poor and villagers of the country, and to make them economically prosperous.

The Ministry has taken 60 new initiatives for the development, promotion and equitable growth of the cooperative sector in India. These are to make the cooperative movement immortal, transparent, democratic, to develop it, to increase the income of farmers through cooperation and to increase the participation of women power and youth in the cooperative movement.

The university campus with span over 125 acres and will fill all the gaps in strengthening the cooperative sector, as the cooperative movement is progressing very fast across the country. 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, is associated with the cooperative movement.

Earlier there was no proper system to train employees and members of cooperative societies for the development of cooperative sector. Now, only those who undergo training will get jobs. Due to this, nepotism in cooperatives will end, transparency will come and those who study from the “Tribhuvan” Sahkari University will get jobs. The youth will learn here technical expertise, accounting, scientific approach and all the qualities of marketing. They will also learn the values of cooperation that the cooperative movement is for the Dalits, tribals and women of the country.

Government 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. These 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 this University. It will work on policy making in cooperatives, data analysis and devising 5 years, 10 years and 25 years strategies for the development of cooperatives in the country.

Research has also been linked with this university. It 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. CBSE has added “Cooperatives” as subject in the curriculum of classes 9 to 12. Gujarat government should also add cooperative subject in its curriculum so that common people can know about cooperatives.

It is to promote transparency, accountability, research, and the spirit of cooperative federalism. There could be no more fitting name for the university than that of Tribhuvan Das Patel, who had sown the seed of a new idea on this land under the guidance of Sardar Patel.

Tribhuvan jee formed a small group of milk collectors and through it, he ran a huge campaign to empower the farmers. In 1946, Kheda District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union was established, and today that has 36 lakh sisters do a business of Rs 80 thousand crores and none of them has invested more than Rs 100. He had done the work of standing up the power of the cooperative organization in front of the exploitative policy of Polson Dairy. Today, Amul has emerged as the most valuable brand of food items in the world. Due to this vision, the cooperative dairy of India stands tall in front of the private dairies of the world.

When a cooperative leader works with the welfare of every member in mind, their contribution to nation-building and national prosperity can be immense. “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” and “Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah_”_ form the foundation of India's core values and culture, and from these ideals the spirit of cooperation has emerged. This culture not only promotes economic welfare but also contributes to human welfare, animal welfare, and environmental conservation, and is now extending its impact to the upliftment of the poor as well.

The university will work to fill the vacuum of education, training and innovation in the cooperative movement which has 30 crore members. It will work to take cooperatives forward across the country by preparing a uniform course for the training of cooperative institutions across the country along with the formulation of policies, innovation, research and training. It will also provide a platform to talents and from here the policy of cooperation will be made which will guide everyone. University will also work to implement all the schemes on the ground through 2 Lakh new and 85 thousand old PACS.

With the University coming into existence the cooperative movement will flourish, grow and India will become a stronghold of cooperatives in the whole world. The policies and courses prepared, here, will work to transform the economic model of cooperatives into a mass movement. University will provide qualified employees for all the big cooperative institutions.

In fact, Government wants to bring cooperative taxis, cooperative insurance company etc. So, it also needs officers, employees and cooperative leaders with special knowledge of every field. Thus, cooperative training experts from all over the country should join this university and contribute.

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