(GIST OF KURUKSHETRA) Realising Sahakar Se Samriddhi

(January-2023)

India has a rich history of cooperatives. A few people may know that India’s Iron Man – Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel ji used to follow the basic ideology of cooperation while solving various critical problems on the ground. His pioneering work witnessed the spread of the dairy cooperative movement in the country when he sowed the seeds of Anand Milk Union Limited (Amul) through Shri Tribhuvandas Patel by forming farmer cooperatives, production and marketing of milk through collectivised efforts. The small seed sown by Sardar Patel has now become a global dairy brand.

Voluntary and Open Membership: Cooperatives are voluntary organisations where membership is open to all persons without any discrimination.
Democratic Member Control: Cooperatives are member-driven and member-controlled democratic units. Members actively participate in setting their policies and making decisions. In primary cooperatives, members have equal voting rights conforming to the norm of ‘one member- one vote’.
Member Economic Participation: Members contribute equitably to and control and utilise the capital of their cooperative to support their economic activities.
Autonomy and Independence: Cooperatives are autonomous organisations and believe in self-help for maintaining their cooperative autonomy through democratic controls.
Education, Training and Information: Cooperatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers and employees to support development drives of their units.
Cooperation among Cooperatives: Cooperatives extend efficient service support to their members and strengthen cooperative movement by working together through local, national, regional and international structures.
Concern for Community: One of the major aims of cooperatives is to ensure sustainable development for their communities through adoption of appropriate policy measures.

It can bring the economically weaker section to the forefront of economic growth and ensure their financial stability. Some examples are Amul and Lijjat Papad.
It also helps in empowering women. For instance, Rs 60000 crores are directly remitted into the accounts of women farmers that are associated with Amul Cooperative.

The emergence of cooperatives should be ensured in new and evolving sectors like health, tourism, insurance, etc.
A targeted approach should be followed by all the villages to form a fully functional cooperative society. They should be prepared to meet emerging challenges.
A culture of transparency should be promoted so that the trust of small farmers can be restored.
Fair and regular elections should be conducted in cooperative societies.
The cooperative sector should adopt the principles of corporate governance.
As cooperation is a state subject, both the State and Union government should work closely through continuous dialog.
The technological development of a cooperative society is also a very crucial aspect in realizing the full potential of the sector.