'After retirement, I'll dedicate my life to...': Amit Shah shares future plan

Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said that after he retires from public life, he plans to dedicate himself fully to the Vedas, Upanishads, and natural farming. Speaking at Sahkar Samvaad, an interaction with women associated with cooperatives from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, Shah reflected on both personal conviction and policy.

"I have decided that after retirement, I will dedicate the rest of my life to the Vedas, Upanishads, and natural farming," Shah said. "Wheat grown with chemical fertilisers often leads to various health issues. Natural farming not only helps in making the body disease-free but also enhances agricultural productivity."

He also spoke about his journey as a minister, underlining how the Cooperation Ministry holds special meaning for him. "When I became the Home Minister of the country, everyone told me that I had been given a very important department. But the day I was made the Cooperation Minister, I felt that I had been given a department even bigger than the Home Ministry, one that works for the country's farmers, the poor, villages, and animals."

During the event, Shah laid the foundation stone of Tribhuvan Sahkarita University, named after the late Tribhuvan Kaka, whom he credited with laying the true foundation of India’s cooperative movement.

“This has been done because, across the country, wherever I travel, I see how women from small families have educated their children and transformed their lives," Shah said. "Today, in places where cooperatives have been established, people are earning up to ₹1 crore — all of this has been made possible due to Tribhuvan Kaka’s visionary ideas. Yet, he never did anything to make a name for himself.”

He added, “Congress strongly opposed the name of Tribhuvan Kaka in Parliament, but I firmly stood my ground — the university will be named after him. Women across Gujarat bless Tribhuvan Kaka. Establishing a university in his name is a significant achievement.”

Shah pointed to the scale of economic transformation driven by cooperatives in Gujarat. “Tribhuvan Kaka laid the true foundation of the cooperative movement, and it is because of that today the women of Gujarat are doing business worth ₹80,000 crore,” he said.

His office, in a social media post, highlighted testimonies from women cooperative workers. One such participant, Miral Ben Rabari from Gujarat, shared how camel milk has become a source of economic empowerment for farmers. “She told Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah ji how farmers selling camel milk are profiting through cooperatives and how people are benefiting from the medicinal properties of camel milk,” the post said.

Ahead of the interaction, Shah’s office stated in Hindi that "the Ministry of Cooperation is strengthening the country’s economy along with the rural economy by empowering farmers in line with Modi ji’s vision of ‘Prosperity through Cooperation.’"