The leading labour cooperative of Kerala, ULCC concluded its seminar with loud and clear massage: vouching for cooperative globally.
At this time when the world economy is facing an unprecedented crisis, cooperatives stand out as an isle of hopes and optimism. This was the central theme of the two day international conference.
One of the delegates representing international bodies told the conference cooperatives could be a stabilizing factor when there was reduction in food supply, employment opportunities all round and when climate was getting seriously threatened.
According to the foreign delegate, cooperatives owned $1.3 trillion in assets, employed 800 million people and were creating 100 million jobs annually. More than 20 per cent of the global output came from cooperatives. They looked after their members better than their corporate counterparts, had several advantages, such as providing voice and justice to their members, and were engaged in a dialogue with governments and the public.
In his keynote address, Prabhat Patnaik, Professor Emeritus at Jawaharlal Nehru University, described coops as instruments to protect farmers’ interests since in the globalised world the State had become the private capital’s puppet. Cooperatives could help people fight the catastrophic consequences of globalisation, Mr. Patnaik emphazised.
The conference was jointly organised by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, the IIM-K and the Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative.