Several cooperators were not happy with Union Minister Radha Mohan Singh talking about the need to do a course correction in cooperatives. This was not the platform to talk about such issues, they told Indian Cooperative wanting their names not to be published.
Singh has in his speech said though the latest survey reveals that number of cooperatives has increased from 6 lakhs to 8 lakhs but the lot of poor remains unchanged. Is there not an anomaly in this, he asked underling the need for cooperators to introspect.
There are some cooperatives which actually transfer benefits to its members but there are others where only a few get rich at the cost of ordinary members. Quoting the case of a Kerala PACS he said admirable examples are few and far between.
“If it is a domestic conference we do not mind but what was the need to rake up the issue of corruption in cooperatives in an international event”, many said. In contrast, they were happy with the speech of Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu who made a strong pitch for adopting the cooperative movement.
Prabhu said that it is only in cooperative that a member’s social and economic life is improved. There are societies which are economically developed but socially backward. And the opposite is also true. But if a country adopts a cooperative model as the economic tool there could be sustainable development with a social dimension, Prabhu underscored.
