COOPERATIVES, VOLUNTARY AGENCIES & NON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION

COOPERATIVES, VOLUNTARY AGENCIES & NON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION

            The era of co-operative movement in India started with the passing of the first co-operative societies Act in 1904 by the Government of India. The idea behind the co-operative movement at that stage was defensive and protective of the interests of peasants. It was meant to inculcate the spirit of thrift, self-help and mutual co-operation among the peasants so that they were protected from the appalling condition of heavy indebtedness.

            A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise. Cooperatives are based on the values of self-help, self responsibility democracy, equity and solidarity.

            A co-operative may be defined as a business owned and controlled equally by the people who use its services or by the people who work there,

Principles of Cooperatives

1. Voluntary and open membership – Voluntary organizations open to all persons, able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership without any discrimination on gender, social, racial, political or religious grounds.
2. Democratic member control – Democratically controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting their policies and making decisions.
3. Member economic participation - Members contribute equitably the capital of their cooperative.
4. Autonomy and independence – Are autonomous self help organizations controlled by their members.
5. Education, Training and Information – They provide education to their members, elected representatives, managers and employees so thay can contribute effectively to the development of their cooperatives.
6. Cooperation among cooperatives – They strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, national, regional and international structures.
7. Concern for community – They work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies accepted by their members.

Types of Cooperatives

1. Agricultural cooperatives

Agricultural cooperatives or farmer cooperatives are cooperatives where farmers pool their resources for mutual economic benefit. They can be broadly divided into:

Agricultural supply cooperatives – which provide various services to their individual farming members. They aggregate purchase, storage and distribution of farm inputs for their members. By taking advantage of volume discounts and utilizing other economies of scale, supply cooperatives bring down members cost.

Agricultural production cooperatives – where production resources such as land or machinery are pooled and members farm jointly.

Agricultural marketing cooperatives – which provide the services involved in moving a product from the point of production to the point of consumption. Agricultural marketing cooperatives are often formed to promote specific commodities eg. Amul & Aavin

2. Credit Unions and Cooperative banking

            Credit unions are cooperative financial institutions that are owned and controlled by their members. Credit unions provide the same financial services as banks but are considered not for profit organizations and adhere to cooperative principles.

There are two types of institutions in this field.

1. The Primary agricultural credit societies which cater to the needs of short-term and medium term finance.
2. The land development banks which provide loan for long term purposes.

Short and medium term credit : (Three-tier system)

PACS - Primary Agricultural Co-Operative Credit Society

DCC - District Central Co-operative banks

SCB - State Co-operative banks or Apex banks.

1.  PACS

A  Primary  Agricultural  Co-operative  Credit  Society  is  supposed  to  be  an association  of  borrowers  and  non-borrowers  who,  residing  in  a  locality,  know  one another and take interest in one another’s affair. PACS can be started in a village by ten or more members.

The area of operation of a primary agricultural co-operative society is supposed to be restricted to a compact area, preferably a village, or a group of small villages where every person knows practically every other person of the locality.

The primary  agricultural  co-operative  society  is  the  basic  unit  of  the  co-operative  credit organisation. This is because it is on the foundation of this basic unit established at the village level that the entire foundation of the co-operative credit structure is created, and secondly, because it is this primary co-operative credit society which comes in direct contact  with agriculturists giving them  loans and collecting repayment of  loans from
them.

2. DCC - District Central Co-operative Banks

Primary co-operative societies in a particular area, generally a district, federate and form a District Central Co-operative bank. Generally the DCC bank is located at the headquarters of the district. Some DCC banks have branches in some towns in the particular district.

3.  State Co-operative Banks (The Apex Banks )

The State Co-operative Banks or the Apex banks occupy a crucial position in the three-tier co-operative credit structure in India. These Apex banks or State Co-operative banks are formed by federating District Central Co-Operative Banks in the particular State. The  Apex  bank  distributes  financial  resources  among  various  DCC  banks according to their requirements. As the DCC banks are not allowed to carry on lending
operations among themselves, the Apex bank operates as a ‘balancing centre’ balancing excess funds in some DCC banks with deficiencies of funds in some other DCC banks.

The NABARD is the most important source of funds for the Apex bank which gets anywhere from 50 to 90% o their working capital from it.

Long Term Credit : (Two tier system)

Central Land Development Banks

Primary Land Development Banks

Agriculturists also need long-term loans (anywhere from 5 years to 20 or even 25  years)  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  about  some  permanent  improvements  on agricultural  lands  such  as  construction  of  a  tank  or  tube  well,  purchase  of  heavy machinery like tractor or to purchase additional lands.

Functions  of  Land Development Banks

The main function of land development bank is to give loans on long-term basis for  the  purpose  of  effecting  some  permanent  improvements  on  lands  such  as construction of a well or a tank, purchase of heavy agricultural machinery, purchase of additional land and so on.
 Since they generally grant loans which run for several years, strict rules are laid down with regard to the security against which they can advance loans. Generally these banks :

• Restrict their loans to first mortgage of agricultural property
• Lend upto 50% of the value of land
• Lend at fairly low rates of interest and enable the needy farmers to secure loans for long periods.

While  granting  loans,  the  LDB’s  are  very  careful  in  assessing  the  value  of agricultural property mortgaged, the amount of land tax paid, gross and net value of the produce on the land mortgaged and repaying capacity of borrowers.

 VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS

 Voluntary organisation refers to non-profit organisations set up by a group of persons on voluntary basis to help people of a locality in self-reliant development in order to satisfy their needs.

Voluntary organisations must be representatives of the needs and aspirations of the people and should not expect to get returns in turn for the services rendered.  It must also be free from external control.  People’s involvement in all the activities is essential.  Ideally the emphasis should be on raising consciousness of the people and strengthening their capacities to solve their own problems.  Voluntary organisations are most sought after for development due to their unique features as given below:

1. Voluntary organisations exhibit high level of commitment for the cause. 
2. There is a sense of innovativeness or eagerness to experiment with ideas and solve the problems.
3. Voluntary workers are enthusisastic about the work and pursue it into their last because of high level of motivation.
4. The organisations are usually free of complex procedure and can adapt their rules to suit local conditions.
5. There is concern for humanity and its all-round development.  Thus, the programmes are comprehensive.
6. As voluntary organisations are initiated by local people or those having concern, there is close contact with people.

Role of Voluntary Organisation in Rural Development

Some of the functional areas suitable for intervention of V.Os. are as follows:

1. Information Dissemination:   The government programmes need to be communicated to the people in their language and from the people’s perspectives.  This task is often left to the lower level functionaries of the government. All the efforts of publicity through various media do not always reach the intended beneficiaries.  Information is power and V.Os can strengthen people with right information to one and all. 
2. Community Organisation and Mobilisation:   Due to close contact of V.Os. with the people, it is possible for them to organise self-help groups in the communities.  They can generate local leadership and collect funds for common facilities. In fact, V.Os. are quite capable to play catalytic role in mobilisation of community to set up its own facilities and solve their own problems.
3. Utilisation of Local Resources:   Identification, planning and effective use of local resources, skills and knowledge can help rural areas in big way.  Unutilized resources can be turned into profitable enterprise through appropriate training and enterprise.
4. To Set Ideals of Development Work:   V.Os. can show through their organisation work and technique live examples.  V.Os. may like to concentrate their work on appropriate technology, team work and ways of living, which people can emulate by seeing.  The permanent changes can be brought through such ideal work.
5. Sensitize the Poor:   It is a common knowledge that no development can be brought unless people themselves begin to realize the problem.  Such realization requires efforts to break the shackles of ignorance and vicious cycle of exploitation.  It is here that V.Os. can play significant role.  It requires confrontation with reality and powerful forces.  It may upset the power structure of community.  Thus, only genuinely committed V.Os. can dare to venture in this work.

NON - GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS

            NGOs are legally constituted organisations created by natural or legal persons that operate independently from any government. In the case in which NGOs are funded totally or partially by governments, the NGO maintain its non - governmental status by excluding government representatives from membership in the organisation.

The NGOs with non profit motive may be registered under any of the following Indian acts:

1. As a Charitable Trust
2. As a Society registered under the Societies Registration Act
3. As a Company licensed under Section 25 of the Companies Act.

The major development roles ascribed to NGOs are to act as:

1. Planner and implementor of development programmes
2. Mobiliser of local resources and initiative
3. Catalyst, enabler and innovator
4. Builder of self-reliant sustainable society
5. Mediator of people and government
6. Supporter and partner of government programmes in activating delivery system, implementing rural development programmes etc.
7. Agent to demystify technology and disseminate information
8. Factor of transformation, conscientisation and improvement of the poor.
9. Facilitator of development education, training, professionalisation etc.

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