Union Minister for Home Affairs and Cooperation Amit Shah on Saturday said that the Centre will take every possible effort to stop the privatisation of cooperative sugar mills. He also warned the Maharashtra government that he is not going to be a silent spectator to the State government’s moves in the sugar cooperatives.

Commenting on the apprehensions that the new cooperative ministry will crackdown on cooperative institutions run by the opposition, Shah said that he has become a cooperative minister to strengthen the sector and not to break it.

Shah was speaking at the Co-operative Conference at Loni in Ahmednagar district where India’s first co-operative sugar mill came up.

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“We will make all efforts so that cooperative sugar mill continues to operate. The government will take effort to avoid the situation where cooperative mills are converted into private mills,” said Shah. Attacking the Shiv Sena-led government in Maharashtra Shah said the State government is helping specific sugar mills and not extending the guarantee for loans to the mills run by the opposition.

“The State government must rise about the politics. I’m not going to be a silent spectator to this biased approach,” Shah warned.

Shah’s statement comes against the backdrop when many cooperative sugar mills reeling under debt burden are being auctioned by the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) and State politicians are purchasing these mills. Farmers smell a “conspiracy” to convert cooperative mills into a private venture to grab assets of mills along with sprawling land packs worth multi-crore. For the last few years, loss-making sugar mills are being auctioned by the MSCB to recover loans but the auctioning process has come under the scanner.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has established the cooperative ministry at a time when it was necessary to revitalize the cooperative sector, he said, and added, “ There were many questions raised when I became a co-operative minister. But I have come here to join and not break”. He added that those who are questioning his appointment as cooperative minister must look into their own records.

Maharashtra co-operative in bad shape

Amit Shah launched a direct attack on Congress and Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) who controls Maharashtra’s cooperative sector. “Once District Central Banks in Maharashtra were considered ideal. What is the situation today? How corruption of thousands and crores has happened? Did RBI do it? No” said Shah.

He said that many cooperative mills in the State turned private and many cooperative mills are in bad shape. Shah said that the Union Government is helping cooperative sugar mills in all possible ways. He added that soon the RBI will give permission to escrow accounts.

He said that the government will consult experts to revamp the banking sector as all expert committee reports have gathered dust without implementation.

The Minister reiterated that the government was planning a cooperative university. “We are changing the multi-state cooperative law and introducing the new cooperative policy,” said Shah.

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