<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222;">Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah has said that the decision to set up two lakh Cooperative Committees at the Panchayat level in the next three years will help the cooperative sector grow by three times, thereby benefiting the farmers. Addressing the Cooperative convention in Bengaluru today, the minister further said that these Cooperative committees will have multidimensional roles like milk distribution, storage, fisheries, water and gas supply.</span></p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br />''</p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222;">Listing out various other activities initiated by his ministry, Mr. Shah said that a multi-state cooperative society will be set up to take up export of products supplied by the cooperatives. This society will also focus on seeds production and exports. A cooperative University will be set up to train manpower required for the sector. A database of all the cooperatives and a new Cooperative policy is on the anvil. To promote transparency and affix responsibilities in the cooperative sector and to make elections more transparent a model Bill is referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee. Pointing out at the long history of cooperative movement in Karnataka, he said that the best practices must be emulated by the cooperative sector in other states.</span></p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br />''</p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222;">The first co-operative society of India was registered in 1905 at Kanaginahal village in Gadag district of Karnataka by Siddanagouda Sanna Ramanagowda Patil, known as the father of the Cooperative movement in Karnataka. Mr. Shah thanked the Prime Minister for creating a separate ministry for the Cooperative sector and said that his ministry will make the cooperatives in the country stand firm on their feet.</span></p>