Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar with dignitaries at the inauguration of the 73rd Cooperative Week in Bengaluru on Saturday. Photo: CMO Karnataka
Bengaluru: The cooperative sector is the gateway to farmers’ economic independence and no one can weaken it, Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said on Saturday, adding that government support to cooperative institutions, the backbone of farmers’ lives, will continue.
He inaugurated the 73rd Cooperative Week – 2026, organised by the Karnataka State Cooperative Federation at Sir M. Visvesvaraya Layout in Banashankari, Bengaluru. Karnataka State Cooperative Federation president and MLA G.T. Devegowda and Karnataka State Cooperative Housing Federation president and MLA S.T. Somashekar were among those present.
“The cooperative movement is a movement of the people, by the people and for the people. Equal share for all is the mantra of the cooperative principle. This cooperative sector is the gateway to farmers’ economic freedom,” Shivakumar said.
“No one can weaken the cooperative sector. Government support will continue for the cooperative institutions that are the backbone of farmers’ lives. It was Mahatma Gandhi’s wish that a village should have a cooperative society, a school and a panchayat,” he said.
Recalling his own start, he said that when Ramakrishna Hegde was Chief Minister after winning from Kanakapura, leaders of the Kanakapura taluk fielded him in a TAPCMS election. After student elections, it was the first election he won in public life, he said, adding that he has also served as Cooperation Minister.
“The state government is giving interest-free loans to farmers under the crop loan and interest subsidy scheme. About 17 lakh farmers benefit from this, and the government has already provided Rs 1,135 crore in various forms,” he said.
He said about 25 lakh farmers in the state are members of milk producers’ cooperative societies, and the government gives milk producers an incentive. Milk producers must get a fair price for their labour, he said, adding that while Amul’s milk price is Rs 61–62 a litre, farmers in Karnataka are paid Rs 54. “Let the Prime Minister reduce the price of Amul milk; we will reduce ours too,” he said.
Shivakumar said a government college will be built at Yeshwanthpur at a cost of about Rs 41 crore on a site of four acres 39 guntas, allotted through the Bengaluru Development Authority on a request from MLA S.T. Somashekar. He added that arrangements have also been made for a specialty hospital at Ullal, so that people in the surrounding areas need not travel to central Bengaluru for treatment.
Expressing confidence about the next assembly polls, he said: “Whatever lies anyone tells and whatever political tactics they use, the Congress government will be in power in the state in 2028 as well.”
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