India's Top Cooperative Societies

Cooperative societies are voluntary organisations of people who work together to achieve common goals. Through self-help and mutual aid, it seeks to serve the interests of the poorest parts of society.

If you have little or no knowledge of cooperative societies in India, be assured. This article will help you to know everything about cooperative societies.

Did you know? Around 8 lakh cooperative societies are officially recognised in India, mostly in the agricultural, banking, and housing industries.

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What Exactly are Cooperative Societies?

Co-operative societies, often called Co-ops, are global phenomena with varying definitions and forms. They are essentially an organisation of users, businesses, or families pursuing economic, social, or cultural goals, according to the laws of joint ownership and democracy and intending to benefit its representatives and society. They are a non-profit organisation that substitutes capitalism with cooperation, listens to the needs of its members, is non-discriminatory, makes decisions through talks, and adheres to the concepts of self-help and mutual support.

Cooperatives occur in various industries, including banking, retail, marketing, housing, agricultural, buying, manufacturing, and employment.

Types of Cooperative Society in India

Cooperative societies in India are classified into numerous areas, including housing, agricultural, retail, banking, and so on. The six primary kinds are as follows:

1. Housing Cooperative Society

Cooperative Housing Societies were formed to address the soaring land prices in towns and cities for housing. These societies provide low- and middle-income people with cheap houses. They also make loan arrangements with financial organisations and government bodies. A member must either buy a residence or acquire equity in the cooperative.

2. Credit Cooperative Society

These organisations are founded to help members (typically medium and low-income groups) cultivate the habit of saving and to safeguard them from abuse by moneylenders demanding excessive interest rates. The society takes funds from savings accounts, RD, FD, pension plans, and so on and makes low-interest loans when necessary. These societies are supported by the state and national governments, which may be discovered in rural and urban locations. It's worth noting that cooperative credit organisations operate similarly to cooperative banks because individuals can deposit and withdraw funds.

3. Cooperative Marketing Society

These co-ops operate by profitably marketing the food and assisting small farmers in earning the highest possible price. Members are also given loan funds. These cooperatives increase farmers' negotiating power and protect them against personal losses and intermediary abuse. Some of the things that contribute to its self-sufficiency are as follows:

• Price ceiling stability through supply-demand matching
• Profit distribution is based on product contribution.
• Various marketing operations to sell directly to buyer facilities, such as grading, processing, packing, shipping, and warehousing.
• Farmers' education is based on market pricing.

4. Farming Cooperative Society

These are voluntary groups of small farmers banding together to profit from large-scale farming. The land is governed by a group of farmers elected by the farmers. Farmers in superior agricultural cooperative societies pool their resources with common agencies to acquire and distribute agricultural inputs such as seed, equipment, fertiliser, and agri-products. Farmers also pool their resources, keep their land rights, and each member receives a percentage of the overall production.

Lease farming is done on a rent basis in cooperative tenant farming, but in collective co-ops farming, farmers become lifetime members but can only transfer land rights.

5. Producer Cooperative Society

Producer or industrial cooperative organisations are founded to safeguard the interests of small producers/farmers and land and fishery owners. Because the society handles production and marketing distribution, members collect raw materials and other processing instruments directly and supply them to the producers. Because cost-effective production is a focus, manufacturers solely deliver the end product to non-members or purchasers, with no intermediaries. Dairy farmers, fishers, weavers, craftspeople, and cooperative tribes are good examples since they pool resources to enhance output quantities and reduce market risks, to benefit each producer.

6. Consumer Cooperative Society

Here, society buys domestic commodities bulk from producers and sells them straight to consumers/members in cash. Rather than earning profits, the goal is to encourage appropriate wholesale pricing for mutual benefit. As customers operate in a specific region, these cooperative organisations rely on word-of-mouth. They also serve as consumer-run retail stores, benefiting from substantial manufacturer discounts. Prime consumer cooperatives are emerging in various industries, including housing, healthcare, finance, and not-for-profit credit unions.

List of Top Multi-state Cooperative Societies in India

The following are some of India's top cooperative societies:

1. AMUL

India is the world's greatest milk producer, resulting from the White Revolution in India, which AMUL fueled.

• It is a cooperative dairy society in India.
• AMUL is headquartered in Anand, Gujarat.
• AMUL was founded in 1946.
• The cooperative entity that handles the AMUL brand is Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF).
• Dr Verghese Kurien is regarded as the "Father of the White Revolution." He served as the chairman of GCMMF for almost 30 years.
• GCMMF is now held by the apex organisation of 13 District Milk Unions, representing (3.6 million) milk producers in Gujarat scattered across 13,000 villages.

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2. Karnataka Milk Federation 

• Karnataka Milk Federation is India's second largest milk co-operative after Amul.
• It is a milk producers' group that operates on cooperative principles.
• KMF was established in 1974 as the Karnataka Dairy Development Corporation (KDDC) to carry out a dairy development project. The World Bank was in charge of this initiative.
• Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) procures milk from Primary Dairy Cooperative Societies (DCS).
• The milk is sold under the trademark Nandini.

3. Horticultural Producers’ Co-operative Marketing and Processing Society (HOPCOMS)

• It is a farmers' cooperative that was established in 1965.
• HOPCOMS is governed by the Government of Karnataka's Department of Horticulture.
• It was established with the goal of direct selling farm goods.
• Bengaluru is the headquarters of HOPCOMS.
• HOPCOMS is present in the Karnataka districts of Bangalore Rural, Bangalore Urban, Mysuru, Mandya, Chikkaballapura, and Ramanagar.
• HOPCOMS's operations are divided into distribution, storage, and procurement.

4. Indian Coffee House

• A group of worker cooperative societies manages it. It is a restaurant chain.
• The Coffee Cess Committee established the India Coffee House network in 1936 because local Indians were not permitted to enter Coffee Houses, mostly reserved for Europeans.
• The first Indian Coffee House location was established in Bombay.
• By the 1940s, the country had 50 coffee shops.
• In India, 13 cooperative groups manage the country's coffee shops.

5. Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO)

• Its headquarters are in New Delhi.
• IFFCO is the world's largest cooperative in terms of GDP per capita turnover.
• IFFCO, which was formed on November 3, 1967, is India's largest fertilizer company.
• With around 35,000 member cooperatives, IFFCO covers over 50 million Indian farmers.

Characteristics of a Cooperative Society

• Optional Association: Co-operative society membership is entirely voluntary. A cooperative society is open to anyone interested, and members can quit at any moment with due notice.
• Equal Voting Rights: The notion of "one man, one vote" underpins a cooperative society. Regardless of the number of shares they own, cooperative society members only have one vote, so the organisation is administered democratically.
• Separate legal entity: A cooperative society must be registered as a separate legal entity under the Co-operative Societies Act. The co-operative society will become a separate legal entity due to this registration. It can enter into contracts, buy and sell property under its name, file lawsuits, and be sued.
• Service Motive: The primary goal of a cooperative organisation is to offer service to its members rather than to increase profits.
• Surplus Distribution: Members get dividends and bonuses from the co-operative society's earnings.

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Conclusion

To alleviate the situation of farmers caught by moneylenders and dealers, the ground was prepared for forming cooperative groups. The term "cooperative" arose from democratic mutual collaboration. With open membership, a more equitable price distribution might be achieved. Cooperative societies may operate well when dividends are distributed among members in line with the society's bylaws since public benefit takes precedence over individual profit in surplus.

We hope you found all of the information you were seeking about cooperative organizations in India.

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