Union Home & Cooperation Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the EARTH Summit 2025 on Friday at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, where he launched more than 13 new services and products under the ‘Sahakar Sarathi’ initiative. The new offerings include Digi KCC, Campaign Sarathi, Website Sarathi, Cooperative Governance Index, ePACS, the World’s Largest Grain Storage Application, Shiksha Sarathi and Sarathi Technology Forum.
Addressing the summit, Shah said this second edition is part of a series of three EARTH Summits aimed at strengthening the rural economy and finding result-oriented solutions for rural development. He said major issues linked to four ministries associated with the rural economy would be resolved through deliberations held across the summits, culminating in a policy framework at the third meeting in Delhi next year.
Shah said that Mahatma Gandhi had emphasised that India’s development vision must keep villages at the centre, but this principle was neglected after Independence. Agriculture, animal husbandry and cooperatives remained overlooked for decades, he said, adding that a shift began in 2014 under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, placing rural development at the core of national progress.
He said a plan has been put in place to establish a cooperative institution in every Panchayat in the coming years, expand cooperative membership to more than 50 crore people and increase the sector’s contribution to GDP. When these goals are achieved, he said, no citizen—whether a rural woman engaged in animal husbandry or a small farmer—will be left behind.
Shah highlighted Gujarat’s success under the ‘Cooperation Among Cooperatives’ model, which has led to a rise in low-cost deposits after integrating markets, dairies, PACS and other cooperatives under district-level umbrellas. A model ensuring that all cooperative institutions maintain accounts with cooperative banks has been implemented, he said, adding that this has strengthened deposits and enhanced the credit capacity of the cooperative sector fivefold. The summit, he said, is working toward an action plan to fully utilize Priority Sector Lending potential by adopting the Gujarat/Banaskantha model.
Stressing the role of technology, The Home Minister said cooperatives cannot progress without digital support. Smaller cooperatives lacked the capacity to bear tech infrastructure costs, but NABARD has addressed this through 13+ digital services provided under ‘Sahakar Sarathi’. All district central, state, agricultural and urban cooperative banks will operate under a single technology framework, enabling modern banking facilities, real-time tracking systems, and tech-enabled services including recovery, disbursement, KYC, legal documentation and appraisal. With RBI’s cooperation, he said, a strong cooperative banking framework is taking shape, and soon farmers with e-KCC will have access to facilities comparable to international credit cards.
Shah said software-driven systems will help identify regions needing cooperative expansion, and remaining scientific processes in the ongoing project will be completed next year. He said Gujarat has built a circular economy model in the dairy sector where indigenized products directly benefit farmers, and this model will now be replicated across the country.
Around 49 lakh farmers are now engaged in certified organic production with more than 40 organic products available online, Shah said. A national lab network is being set up with Bharat Organics and Amul to increase India’s share in the global organic market by 2035. Multi-state cooperatives will procure produce, test it and export it, ensuring payments go directly to farmers’ accounts.
Shah said the Ministry of Cooperation has launched ‘Sahakar Taxi’, with more than 51,000 drivers registering during the trial phase. The aim is to build the country’s largest cooperative taxi company. He added that Cooperative Insurance will integrate health, life, agriculture and accidental insurance under the cooperative framework, strengthening key sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, animal husbandry and dairy.
Wishing success to the summit, the Home Minister described cooperation as a Kalpavriksha rooted in public welfare and supporting the livelihoods of millions. He said the discussions and solutions emerging from the event will help build a strong rural development framework.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Gujarat Legislative Assembly Speaker Shankarbhai Chaudhary, Agriculture & Cooperation Minister Jitu Bhai Vaghani, Deputy Speaker and NAFED Chairman Jetha Bhai Ahir, Cooperation Secretary Ashish Kumar Bhutani, Gujarat State Cooperative Bank Chairman Ajay Bhai Patel and NABARD Chairman Shaji K.V. were among those present.
