Union home minister delivers Mumbai University’s Laxmanrao Inamdar memorial lecture

NEW DELHI: Union home minister and minister of cooperation Amit Shah delivered the Laxmanrao Inamdar memorial lecture that was organised by Mumbai University and Sahakar Bharati in Maharashtra, today. Several dignitaries, including Maharashtra governor Ramesh Bais and chief minister Eknath Shinde were present on the occasion.

Shah said Inamdar was born in Maharashtra, and his Karmbhumi (where he worked) was Gujarat. He said Inamdar received the guidance of many prominent leaders and activists from various fields. He added that many dedicated workers, nurtured and groomed by Inamdar have contributed to the glory of Gujarat's public life, based on the values and principles he imparted.

He added that vakeel sahab used to make his companions invaluable by imbuing them with values, and when a person used to come under his influence, they transformed into someone as precious as gold. Shah said Gujarat's public life is now highly disciplined, and Inamdar has made a huge contribution towards it.

Shah said the cooperative movement in the country started in 1904 and over time it began to spread in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, central India, Tamil Nadu, and Bengal. He said after independence, cooperation made a commendable effort to provide a model that bridged the gap between socialist and capitalist models.

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He added that as a result, several excellent cooperative models emerged in the country, especially in the areas of rural and agricultural development. He said that after 1960, and particularly after 1967, politics started interfering with the cooperative sector, and gradually, there was a decline in the country's economy, which had a detrimental impact on the cooperative movement.

Amit Shah said that now 36 lakh women in the country conduct milk business worth 60,000 crore rupees through Amul, and not a single woman has invested more than Rs 100 as capital. He said that cooperatives have contributed significantly towards prosperity of Gujarat, especially in rural areas. There are 8.5 lakh cooperative societies in the country with 30 crore members, 93,000 PACS, 2 lakh milk societies and many world-renowned cooperative societies such as IFFCO, KRIBHCO, and Amul.