By Vivek Kolhe
As the world prepares to celebrate International Cooperative Day on July 5, Maharashtra proudly reflects on one of its greatest success stories, a grassroots revolution that began in its sugarcane fields and reshaped the destiny of its villages. For many years, this cooperative movement has been like the soul of rural Maharashtra, changing lives and places for the better.
How It Began: Cooperatives Take Root
In the 1950s and 1960s, a new movement began in Maharashtra that changed how village economies worked, the cooperative movement. Important leaders like Yashwantrao Chavan and Vasantdada Patil, along with many local pioneers, helped make it happen. Cooperatives weren’t just businesses; they became powerful ways to help people become strong and independent.
It all began with cooperative sugar factories in areas that often faced droughts (not enough rain). Farmers who used to rely on middlemen and struggled to survive suddenly became owners, producers, and decision-makers on their own farms. This was a huge step towards them controlling their own lives.
Changing Villages: More Than Just Sugar and Milk
Over many decades, the impact of cooperatives extended far beyond making sugar or processing milk. These were not just economic groups; they became strong foundations for community development. Cooperatives built schools, hospitals, roads, and even helped create political leaders from the villages. Villages that didn’t have basic facilities before blossomed into lively and strong village economies.
The ripple effect was immense. Cooperative banks offered affordable loans to farmers, freeing them from expensive private lenders. Dairy cooperatives changed how animal farming worked, making sure milk producers got fair prices. Groups that sold cotton and grains helped farmers get good prices for their crops. You can find a cooperative quietly helping behind almost every success story in rural Maharashtra.
A Social Power: Helping People, Not Just Making Money
Maharashtra’s cooperatives also did a lot more than just economic work. They helped small farmers, led to the rise of women’s self-help groups, and taught generations of people how democracy works. From towns known for sugar, like Kolhapur and Ahmednagar, to cotton areas like Wardha, cooperatives became social movements, bringing communities closer.
They also helped many leaders start their careers. Many people who began working in taluka cooperatives went on to become important state and national leaders. This shows how strong and effective working together can be.
Today, there’s a strong push to make cooperatives better, use digital tools, and run them more professionally. With the world changing fast, cooperatives must also change to stay important.
This is where national and state leaders are stepping in.
Under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah, the cooperative sector is getting a major boost. Just a few years ago, the Central Government created a special Ministry of Cooperation to focus entirely on strengthening cooperatives across India. Minister Amit Shah leads this new ministry with the motto “Prosperity Through Cooperation.”
They are working on:
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Making village cooperatives (PACS) digital: This means giving them computers and proper software to make their work clear and efficient. This also helps them offer more services to farmers.
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Helping sugar mills: They are resolving old tax issues for cooperative sugar mills in Maharashtra and encouraging them to make ethanol, which helps farmers earn more and makes the mills stronger.
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Creating new opportunities: New cooperative groups are being formed at the national level to help farmers export their goods, promote organic farming, and produce better seeds. This helps farmers connect to bigger markets.
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Fairer taxes: Tax rules for cooperatives are being made similar to those for big companies, which means cooperatives will have more money to invest back into their communities.
In Maharashtra, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is actively leading efforts to reform the state’s cooperatives. Maharashtra is already a leader in cooperatives, with many cooperative banks and housing societies.
Mr. Fadnavis is working on:
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Updating old laws: He is setting up groups to suggest changes to Maharashtra’s cooperative laws, making them fit for today’s world.
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Strengthening cooperative banks: There are talks to allow well-performing cooperative banks to handle government money, which would make them even stronger.
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Helping housing societies: Since many cooperatives in Maharashtra are housing societies, efforts are on to make their work smoother and help them rebuild old buildings easily, even seeking support from national bodies like NCDC for this.
While there’s a strong push for growth, the leaders also stress that cooperatives must be managed well and be open about their work.
A Blueprint for the Future
Despite the hurdles, cooperatives still have immense potential to lead the way. With India focusing on green energy, like ethanol, and processing farm products locally, cooperatives, with new ideas and good management, can again shine brightly.
In a ground-breaking move to transform the state’s sugarcane farming ecosystem, Maharashtra’s leading sugar industry bodies have joined forces to promote Artificial Intelligence (AI) as the next big catalyst for growth and productivity enhancement.
Maharashtra’s cooperative institutions are once again at a turning point, especially in sectors like ethanol production, green energy, and value-added agro-processing. The central government is providing significant support for CBG (CNG) projects as part of its efforts to make India self-reliant in the energy sector. The sugar cooperatives are playing a pivotal role in India’s ethanol blending policy, helping reduce fossil fuel dependency while offering farmers additional income.
Cooperative sugar factories are now partnering in bio-energy missions, producing ethanol from sugarcane and grain, and exploring zero-waste production. This positions them as leaders not only in rural finance, but also in India’s green transition.
As the United Nations continues to highlight how important cooperatives are for achieving global development goals, Maharashtra has both a rich history to be proud of and a bright future to build.
On this International Cooperative Day, let us celebrate not just the organizations, but the true spirit of “Sahakar” — cooperation that lies at the very heart of Maharashtra’s rural prosperity. Let us remember how ordinary farmers, when they worked together, turned into successful business owners. How humble villages, when organized, blossomed into lively and strong communities.
Maharashtra’s cooperative journey is far more than history; it’s a clear plan for truly inclusive development led by the villages. It’s a movement built on shared effort, aiming for shared success for all.
(The author is the Chairman of SMSK Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Ltd., Director at Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd. (IFFCO), and Director of Maharashtra Rajya Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Sangh.)