Co-operatives in Dakshina Kannada –

an overview
- Dr V. Basil Hans
- Mrs. Kavitha Bolar
OBJECTIVES:
• This paper discusses the principles and progress of
cooperatives in India.
• It also analyses the growth of cooperatives in Dakshina
Kannada (DK) district. The analysis, based on
organisations’ perspective, shows clearly the absence of
a well-defined policy on employee training
• the paper makes some strategic suggestions to
strengthen cooperatives in India in general and DK
district in particular.
METHODOLOGY
• The study is based on the secondary source
i.e. Research publications, books,magzines
etc.
• Cooperation means working together. The principle of cooperation is as old
as human society. It is truly the basis of domestic and social life. Co-operative
effort is ultimately the group instinct in man, which enables him to live
together and help each other in times of stress and strain.
• Co-operative is always the child of necessity. England was the cradle of
co-operative movement. Robert Owen (1771-1858) is considered as the father
of the co-operative movement. A Welshman who made his fortune in the
cotton trade, Owen believed in putting his workers in a good environment with
access to education for themselves and their children.
• ‘Rockdale Society of Equitable Pioneers’ was the first co-op society -
21/12/1844. In England consumer co-operatives, in Germany Agricultural and
Non-Agricultural credit co-operatives and in the Scandinavian countries Dairy
co-operatives became popular. The Co-operative Movement brings together
over one billion people around the world.
•
 PRINCIPLES
Mr. Watkiw: “Cooperative principles are the
ideas inherent in cooperation, which determine what is
the mode of action”.
• Voluntary and Open Membership
• Democratic Member Control
• Member Economic Participation
• Autonomy and Independence
• Education, Training and Information
• Cooperation among Cooperatives
• Concern for Community
ROLE OF COPERATIVES
• Mahatma Gandhi once said that “Co-operatives are the gateway for
economic development”.
• Co-operative Sector is the third sector after Public Sector and Private
sector in the country. The co-operative sector is found useful for rural people.
The Co-operative banks are formed for the purpose of promoting the
economic interest of a well-defined group of people.
• The importance of co-operative sector for India is given below:
1. It provides agricultural credits and funds where state and private sectors
have not been able to do very much.
2. It provides strategic inputs for the agricultural-sector; consumer societies
meet their consumption requirements at concessional rates.
3. It helps to overcome the constraints of agricultural development.
• India has one of the largest networks of co-operatives in the world. As of 2009-
10 the total number of co-operatives at all level is 6,10,020 divided between
1,47,991 and 4,58,068 credit and non-credit co-operative societies. In Karnataka
the total number of co-operatives in 2017-18 stood at 42543 with total
membership of 228.85 lakhs.

• Dakshina Kannada District

• DK district is traditionally a cradle of banking and co-operatives. The history

of the co-operative movement in the district can be traced to 1909 when as a result
of the enthusiasm of a few pioneers of Puttur, a rural co-operative society was
registered under the Co-operative Credit Societies Act of 1909.
 Table 1: Basic statistics of the District as on 31-03-2017
Rs in Lakhs
SL.NO PARTICULARS MANGALORE

1 Co-operative Societies registered under the KCS Act-1959 Working

806
Defunct 9
Liquidation 28
Total 843
2 Share Capital 18683.52
Of which Govt. 310.85
Of which members 18372.67
3 Membership 951586
Of which SC 38760
Of which ST 35789
4 Working Capital 1234548.82
5 Deposits 1124865.10
Source: SAHAKARA SINDHU Department of Cooperation, Government of Karnataka. Available at
http://sahakara.kar.gov.in/MANGALORE.html
• There are several co-operatives run by the religious institutions too. For
instance we have the Protestant Christian Co-operative Society in Mangalore
which on May 27 2018 celebrated the 100th year.
• There is also the Mangalore Catholic Co-operative Bank (estb. 8-5-1912),
and the Christian Minority Women’s Multi-purpose Co-operative Society (by
the Catholics).
• There are co-operative societies in some colleges too. For example in St
Aloysius College, Mangalore we have Co-operative Students’ Stores Ltd.,
• Teachers Co-operative Credit Society and the Aloysian Employees Housing
Society.
• The man stress should be on using the user-friendly modern techniques of
working, professional training should be given so that they can handle each and
every single problem.
• most important all work should be done thorough computers so that the
commitment of errors should be minimum.
• Whatever the loans provided to the farmers, the record of that and the
documents should be maintained properly so that it will be easy for the working
of the employees as well as for the farmers to know every single point.
• Proper education training should be given so that the employees can give their
100% to the work and they should no charge higher rate for accepting the
deposits.
• The loans which will be given to the farmers should be given after the enquiry
of that particular person that whether the person really need the loan and the
information he is providing is true or not.
CONCLUSION
The cooperative movement is now a mammoth organisation covering about 95
percent of the villages and 40 percent of our rural population. In some of the
states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, there is not a single
village which is not covered by a village cooperative society. The cooperative
movement has become one of the most important institutional agencies for the
provision of credit for agricultural production and for undertaking other allied
activities.
• All the committees and commissions from the times of Mr. Nicholson to
this day reiterated their abounding faith in the efficacy of the movement as
enduring solution to the ills of rural economy in general and agricultural credit
in particular. It is high time to examine whether the movement has lived up to
the expectations of its founding fathers in India in general and DK district in
particular.