Govt working to make co-ops backbone of rural India: PM

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said his government is working to make cooperatives a strong aspect of rural life, asserting that they are being scaled up in fisheries and different sectors of agriculture after making a mark in dairy and sugar industries.

In a virtual interaction with beneficiaries of the ongoing ‘Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra’, he batted for protecting the interests of small farmers saying they are at times forced to sell their produce at low prices due to a lack of storage facilities and his government will boost storage capacity massively across the country. “We have to build lakhs of such storage facilities,” he said. With the yatra seeking to cover those so far left out of his government’s flagship welfare schemes, he said the change in the lives of crores of beneficiaries of these programmes in the last 10 years has been a story of courage, satisfaction and dreams. Modi said it has been a great source of satisfaction for him to see the self-confidence of people when he interacts with them. It has been not even 50 days since the yatra began and it is a record that it has already covered 2.5 lakh villages, he said.

During the yatra, he said, one crore people have been given ‘Ayushman’ cards to benefit from the government-run health insurance scheme for the poor, 1.25 crore people have undergone health check-ups while more than 70 lakh were inspected for tuberculosis. Taking a swipe at previous dispensations, he said if the situation seen during their tenure had prevailed now, then prospective beneficiaries of these schemes would have lost their hopes doing the rounds of government offices.

There is no nepotism and bribery now to get these benefits, he said, adding “Modi is like family to you. You don’t need any connection.” In the 10 years of his government, 10 crore women have joined self-help groups across the country and have been given Rs 7.5 lakh crore through banks, he said, adding that it is his dream to make two crore women ‘lakhpati’. This is boosting rural economy, he added.

The prime minister said his government’s proactive outreach to people is meant to assure them that its schemes are available to all without any favour or discrimination.