Rural India Can Prosper Through Cooperative Business Model: Amul Chief

Expressing concern over increasing income disparity between urban and rural India, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation's (GCMMF) managing director R S Sodhi on Wednesday said the cooperatives business model should be strengthened for the development of small farmers, workers, retailers and consumers.

GCMMF markets its milk and other dairy products under the Amul brand. It is a leading dairy player in the country.

Addressing a conference organised by industry body CII, Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) and International Labour Organization (ILO), Mr Sodhi said, "If India has to develop, we have to see that Bharat also develops. Bharat can only develop through cooperative way of doing business because that model only takes care of small people."

He noted that the cooperative sector is being talked about once again everywhere since the past one year.

Mr Sodhi highlighted that the Prime Minister has given a slogan of 'Sahakar se Samriddhi' which means prosperity through co-operatives and also created a separate Cooperation Ministry under the helm of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

This shows the government's commitment to the idea of prosperity through cooperatives.

"So can you think why this sudden change and why this interest in cooperatives? India is growing. Our growth rate is much, much higher than the other parts of the world. Per capita income is growing. So why? I think our policymakers and political leadership has realised that India is growing but Bharat is not growing. Incomes are increasing but income is going more to the people who are already rich. It's a K-type growth. People who are having wealth, they are growing at a much, much faster pace. People at the lower end, their wealth is reducing," he said.

Mr Sodhi pointed out that income disparity is increasing especially between urban and rural India, or between India and Bharat.

The Amul managing director said in his view, the Indian economy is based on three 'S' - which are small farmers, small traders and small workers; small retailers and small middlemen; and small consumers.

"If India has to develop, we have to see that all these three 'S' are involved in the development process. They share the wealth and prosperity of India. Now people have realised that only business model which is successful to take care of these 'three S' is cooperative way of doing business," Mr Sodhi said.