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Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the ‘Earth Summit 2025’ organized by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in Gandhinagar on Friday. Addressing the session, he said that the central government has established a new paradigm of sustainable development in the world. He described the rural economy, agriculture, animal husbandry, and cooperatives as the economic backbone of India, stating that the country’s development model in the coming years will be based on these foundations. During the event, Home Minister Shah launched more than 13 new services and products of Sahakar Sarthi. He said that in the coming years, a cooperative institution will be established in every panchayat.
Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah said that this second summit is an important link in the series of three Earth Summits being organized across the country. The objective of these summits is not only to strengthen the country’s rural economy but also to reconsider various aspects of rural development and find result-oriented solutions.
He said that through the three summits, solutions to major issues related to the four ministries involved in the rural economy will be prepared, and a coherent policy framework of all the discussions will be presented at the third summit to be held in Delhi next year.
We forgot the basic mantra – Shah
Amit Shah said that Mahatma Gandhi had said that if India is to progress, its development cannot be envisioned without keeping the villages at the center. But, within a few years of independence, we forgot this mantra. Agriculture, animal husbandry, and cooperatives—the three main pillars of rural development—remained neglected for a long time. He said that in 2014, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a historic change began to make rural development the pivot of national development.
No one will be left behind – Amit Shah
He said that with a holistic approach, we have decided that in the coming years, a cooperative institution will be established in every panchayat of the country. More than 50 crore active members will be created through cooperatives, and the GDP contribution of cooperatives will be increased compared to the present. When these goals are achieved, no one will be left behind. Whether it’s a rural woman involved in animal husbandry or a small farmer, everyone will benefit.
Amit Shah said that cooperation cannot progress without technology. Small cooperatives did not have the capacity to bear the burden of technological infrastructure. NABARD has taken a historic step by providing 13+ digital services to all rural banks through Sahakar Sarathi.
The scheme will be implemented nationwide after Gujarat.
Amit Shah stated that all district central, state, agricultural, and urban cooperative banks will come under a single technology umbrella, modern banking technology will be available without any financial burden, recovery, disbursement, KYC, legal documentation, appraisal, website creation, etc., will be completely tech-enabled, and real-time tracking systems will be implemented in rural cooperative banks. He also said that a robust cooperative banking framework is being established with the cooperation of the RBI, and soon farmers with e-KCC will receive facilities similar to expensive credit cards worldwide.
He further added that based on the cooperative data prepared at the national level, expansion plans will be made wherever there is a gap. Villages/areas in need will be identified instantly through software. The remaining scientific improvements in the project, which has been running for the past two years, will be completed next year. He said that Gujarat has established a complete circular economy model in the dairy sector. Products have been indigenized, and the profits are going directly to the farmers. Now, there are plans to implement this across the entire country.
