The whole country has high hopes from the govt that comes to power at the center after 16th May. The Indian Cooperative Movement hopes that the new Government will give fresh impetus to the cooperative sector with supportive policies and adequate budgetary allocation.
There is an urgent need to support cooperative human resource development. There are 6 lakh cooperatives with over 20 crore members. This vast network can be pivotal to inclusive socio-economic development in the country.
The economic contribution of cooperatives is often undervalued. But top cooperatives in fertilizer, diary, sugar, agro-banking, handloom, handicraft, housing, marketing, fisheries have had a significant market share in our economy.
Indeed they provide our economy with a resilience that may help it overcome crises. Cooperatives have played an important role in sustaining the country’s economic growth especially since 2008 when our economy went into a tailspin.
Cooperatives represent a strong and viable economic alternative. Cooperatives are formed to meet people’s mutual needs. They are based on the idea that together, a group of people can achieve goals that many of them could not achieve alone.
Cooperatives are still the best way of reaching out into the vast hinterland of this country. Cooperative is a form of organization that is effective in checking exploitation, disparities, improving social conditions and creating a just society for environmental protection and sustainable development.
It is hoped that the 97th Constitutional Amendment Act may help in professionalization of this sector and bring uniformity in the cooperative law in the country. Similarly, the bill which is lying in the Parliament on Multi State Cooperative Societies may also be passed as this could be one of the priority areas for the new government.
It will also be appropriate to constitute a High Powered Committee by the new Government to find out the ways and means of rehabilitating the ailing cooperatives so they could become a hub for employment generation and livelihood for the rural population of this country.
(Mohan Kumar Mishra)