Balasubraminyam Iyer, Regional Director of International Cooperative Alliance in this part of the world sees the specter of poor monsoon a chance for cooperatives to prove themselves.
Talking to Indian Cooperative, Mr. Iyer who is popularly known as Balu said “here is a chance for cooperatives to go to doorstep of farmers and take the lead in guiding them.
Balu whose stewardship has been welcomed after Chan Ho Hoi- infamous for his poor communication skills, says we mostly have words and declarations but this is the time for action. We need to go to the farm and prepare a course of action that could directly impact the conditions of farmers in this hour of crisis.
Co-operatives have a high density of network and we have been claiming times ad nausium that more than 25 crore people are working on this model through 6 lakh cooperative societies, it is time we leveraged this vast network into action, Balu added.
Aware of negative perception of cooperative among people at large, Balu feels it a godsend opportunity to change this image. Imagine cooperators standing side by side with farmers on the field, this could help them acquire a public image that would influence even the reluctant government into offering unhindered support to their movement.
Referring to China Balu said “they have the structure, a pecking order and a system; it goes without saying that in situation like this the entire cooperative machinery could be found at the fields and not in the offices.”
Even if it is not a democratic govt , how does it matter . What matters at the end of the day is the solid help that farmers get from what is known as cooperative, he said while answering a query on the difference in the governance model of India and China.
India has failed to attract the youth to the movement and the future of cooperatives hinges on our success in this regard. Citing the example of Singapore Balu said you would find cooperatives thronging school campuses and giving demonstration of their models and activities. We need to replicate it in India, he remarked.