Delhi, Jul 6: To co-operate means to work (operate) together (co). On July 6th , the Government of India announced an entire ministry dedicated to co-operation. According to the press release of the government, “This ministry will provide a separate administrative, legal, and policy framework for strengthening the cooperative movement in the country. It will help deepen co- operatives as a true people-based movement reaching up to the grassroots.”
What is co-operation and what does it do?
Co-operative institutions help people in various domains and industries:
- Co-operatives can open stores or online marketplace to collectively sell goods.
- They can set up plants to manufacture things like chocolate or other processed foods – giving thefarmers a better income on their produce.
- Agriculture and farming – pooling land together to get more crop.
- Easy credit for those who cannot individually get credit.
- Helping farmers get access to farm machinery.
- The co-operative buys the machines and farmers can use it as per their need.
- Housing societies – everyone in the co-operative gets a house.
- Specific traders and artisans to improve their production and marketing.
People come together to form a co-operative society. The history of co-operation is long in India. The first Co-operative Society Act was passed in 1904! The Co-operative Societies Act of 1912 is still main law related to Co-operative societies in India.Amul, a dairy brand that most of us know, is owned and operated by a co-operative society. It is one of the largest dairy co-operatives in the world.The benefits of co-operation are obvious. Yet, India has not been able to benefit from co-operation as much as was hoped. It is hoped that with this central ministry, the co-operative movement will yield the benefits that it is capable of.