Senior cooperative leader Jyotindra Mehta was felicitated with great enthusiasm as he completed 75 years, at a grand Amrut Mahotsav celebration held in Ahmedabad on Sunday. The event brought together prominent leaders from the cooperative, political and financial sectors to honour Mehta’s long-standing contribution to India’s cooperative movement.
The programme was jointly organised by Sahakar Bharati, the Gujarat Urban Co-operative Banks Federation, National Federation of Urban Co-operative Banks and Credit Societies (NAFCUB), and the National Urban Cooperative Finance and Development Corporation (NUCFDC).
Several distinguished personalities attended the celebration, including former Union Minister Suresh Prabhu, Gujarat BJP President Jagdish Vishwakarma, IFFCO Chairman Dileep Sanghani, Sahakar Bharati President Uday Joshi, RBI Central Board Director Satish Marathe, and COBI President Ajay Patel, along with several cooperators, political leaders from Rajkot district, and close associates.
Addressing the gathering, Vishwakarma praised Mehta’s lifelong commitment to the cooperative sector. “Mama has dedicated the invaluable years of his life to the cooperative movement and to social upliftment. His personality and lifelong commitment remain a source of inspiration for all of us. I pray that God blesses him with a long life and good health,” he said.
His efforts in engaging with the Reserve Bank of India and the Ministry of Cooperation on key policy matters have helped address several critical issues affecting the sector.
The doyen of the UCB movement and a congress minister in the Karnataka government, H. K. Patil, has on several occasions highlighted the change brought about by the emergence of Jyotindra Mehta on the national cooperative banking scene.
According to Patil, earlier the bureaucracy in the ministry often treated representatives of urban cooperative banks with a degree of contempt when they visited for discussions. Even the RBI, he noted, was not as receptive to the sector as it appears to be today.
Patil believes much of the credit for this shift goes to Mehta. With his close engagement with Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah and his ability to present a clearer and more convincing picture of the potential and importance of urban cooperative banks, Mehta helped bring the sector into sharper focus at the policy level.
In Patil’s view, Mehta’s efforts played a significant role in restoring the dignity of the sector and strengthening the standing of its representatives in government circles, a point he has emphasized on several occasions.
Colleagues and associates describe Mehta as a soft-spoken yet influential figure who has consistently worked to promote cooperative values and financial inclusion. His leadership and guidance have benefited numerous cooperative institutions across the country.
The event concluded with heartfelt tributes and good wishes from leaders and members of the cooperative community, who lauded Mehta’s dedication and wished him continued health and strength in the years ahead. 
