Co-Operatives in India

Cooperative societies play an important role in the life of the farmers. They give great credits to the credit-seekers in villages at cheaper rates than the money lenders and this has comparatively reduced the farmer's dependence on money lenders. The cooperative society has been doing well in cheering the rural masses and encouraging them to go to banks for their dealings. The non-credit agricultural societies have helped farmers in the promotion of their products; make use of irrigation facilities, etc. Inspite of the cooperative movement's limited progress in non-agricultural activities, people working in small-scale industries have taken advantage of the cooperative movement.

The cooperatives have also engaged themselves in supplying drinking water, constructing hospitals, and providing other facilities to villagers. As the cooperatives regularly hold elections to elect people to handle their affairs, the people have developed a lot of political awareness. The members as well think there is a requirement for education to take on the administration of the cooperative institutions.

Inspite of all these, the cooperative movement is considered to be a failure in some respects by the people who do not appreciate the concept of co-operatives. According, to them, cooperatives have been unsuccessful to accumulate the income required for their proper functioning. They rely upon funds from outside. The system of running the cooperative is so imperfect that frequent loans are not utilized.

The progress, as a whole, has been mismanaged to a large extent. The caste-based politics and excessive bureaucratic powers are some reasons for the failure of the cooperatives. The cooperatives have been responsible for ignoring the needs of those who submit an application for credits and for failing to judge the repaying capacity of the applicants when they apply for loans. The cooperatives have no appropriate provision for loan repayment. Their improper method of maintaining records, inadequate auditing, absence of well-coordinated communication among the numerous divisions, and much dependence on outside funds have made them unsuccessful. The cooperative's presentation is also sometimes hindered by their limited resources.