New Delhi, July 5 (ANI): Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah will perform 'Bhoomi Pujan' and lay the foundation stone of the country's first national level cooperative university 'Tribhuvan' Sahkari University (TSU) at Anand in Gujarat on July 5.

Amit Shah will also participate in tree plantation under the campaign 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' which has become a mass movement on the call of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, instilling a sense of responsibility for environmental protection and cultural values.

Apart from this, Amit Shah will also unveil an educational module prepared by the National Center for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to familiarize school students with the principles of cooperation and the impact of the cooperative movement in India.

The aim of establishing the 'Tribhuvan' Cooperative University is to prepare professional and trained manpower to meet the growing needs of the cooperative sector. This university will provide specialized education, training and research opportunities in areas such as cooperative management, finance, law and rural development. It will empower cooperative institutions at the grassroots level by promoting innovation, capacity building and best practices, improve governance and accelerate inclusive and sustainable rural economic development, an official release said.

Based on the National Education Policy 2020, the academic structure of the University will offer a range of flexible and multidisciplinary programmes, including PhD, degrees at the managerial level, diplomas at the supervisory level and certificates at the operational level.

It will set up subject-specific schools at its campus and in other states and create a national network to standardise the quality of cooperative education and training. To create a national network, the University will try to connect more than 200 existing cooperative institutions in the next four years.

To meet the skill development and capacity building needs of India's estimated number of about 40 lakh cooperative personnel and 80 lakh board members, the University will train around 20 lakh personnel of cooperative societies like Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), dairy, fisheries in the next five years.

To address the shortage of qualified teachers, the University will develop a strong teacher base through PhD programmes based on cooperative studies. At present, cooperative education is limited to a few states and scattered across various institutions, which is inadequate to meet the growing demand in this sector, the release said.

It added that there is currently no institutional mechanism in India to support research and development focused on innovation and affordable technologies in cooperatives, especially for rural areas.

'Keeping this in mind, a dedicated research and development council will be set up in the university which will undertake research and development in the cooperative sector and also promote it in affiliated institutions. Apart from this, it will coordinate with national and international reputed institutions to establish the world's best practices in India,' the release said.

Amit Shah is also scheduled to take part in a series of key events aimed at strengthening India's cooperative movement.

It is also learnt that the Home Minister likely to attend the 'Sahkar Samvad' (Dialogue on Cooperation) at Science City, in Ahmedabad, where he will engage with stakeholders, officials, and representatives of cooperative societies.

The visit underscores the government's ongoing efforts to empower the cooperative sector and promote education and dialogue in this vital area of the Indian economy.

On Sunday, Shah will address a special programme in Anand to mark the completion of four years of the Ministry of Cooperation. The event will be held at Amul Dairy where the Minister is expected to highlight the achievements, reforms, and future roadmap of the ministry since its formation in 2021.

Established to strengthen the cooperative movement in India, the Ministry of Cooperation has played a pivotal role in policy formulation and implementation aimed at empowering cooperative institutions and enhancing grassroots participation.

Amit Shah's address is likely to focus on the ministry's journey, including its initiatives in dairy, agriculture, credit societies, and rural development, with Amul -- one of India's most successful cooperative models -- serving as an appropriate venue for the occasion. (ANI)