Dairy sector boosts rural economy as it creates job opportunities: Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that while dairying is a global industry, it offers India’s enormous population opportunities for job creation, a method to boost the rural economy, and solutions to issues like malnutrition and women’s empowerment. He also announced that his ministry of cooperation would establish milk-producing committees in two lakh villages across the country, with a goal of producing 330 million metric tonnes by 2033-34.Shah was the keynote speaker at the 49th Dairy Industry Conference hosted by the Indian Dairy Association (IDA) in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, today.

In his speech, Amit Shah stated that dairy is a global business, but in a country like India, with a population of 130 crores, it is a source of employment, an alternative to strengthening the rural economy, a solution to malnutrition problems, and a sector with enormous potential for women empowerment.

He stated that if we look at the development of the dairy industry since India’s independence, it is clear that the sector has aptly linked all of these aspects with the country’s development.

Shah said that the Cooperative Dairy, which worked for the prosperity of the farmers, has a huge contribution to this. It has paved the way for the country’s poor women farmers to become self-sufficient.

“India will soon produce 33% of all milk produced worldwide as soon as two lakh additional primary milk producing committees were established. Along with the Center, state governments, and cooperatives, we will need to explore this. By 2033–2034, we need to increase the capacity of our milk production to 330 million metric tonnes, with India producing 33% of the world’s milk,” he continued.Production has increased to 58 million liters per day by 2022, with the dairy sector playing a significant role.