Question

What are cooperative sector industries?

Answer 1

Co-operative sector industries are operated and owned and by the suppliers or producers of raw materials, workers or both. Cooperative movement in India gained a lot of impetus after Independence. Cooperative movement was encouraged in every village of India.

List of Cooperatives in India

Some of the most popular and important cooperatives in India are listed below.

1. Amul
2. Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation
3. Karnataka Milk Federation(KMF)
4. Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited
5. Indian Coffee House
6. Horticultural Producers’ Cooperative Marketing and Processing Society

Cooperative Societies – Types in India

Cooperative societies expanded from the farming sector to other sectors in India. Different types of Cooperative societies are given below.

1. Farming Cooperative Society
2. Producer Cooperative Society
3. Marketing Cooperative Society
4. Consumer Cooperative Societies
5. Housing Cooperative Societies
6. Credit Cooperative Societies

Producer Cooperative Society

1. AMUL Dairy is an excellent example of a Producer cooperative society.
2. General public, non-members, members are buyers of the product.
3. There are no middlemen, direct relationships are established between producer and consumer.

Farming Cooperative Society

1. For consolidating, the farmers put in the capital for fertilizers, seeds, farming equipment, etc.

Consumer Cooperative Society

1. As the name suggests, this type of cooperative societies are formed by consumers.

Marketing Cooperative Society

1. Sugarcane, Vegetables, Fruits, Cotton cooperatives are the largest marketing cooperatives and they have the highest demand.
2. This type of cooperative society assists farmers in selling and marketing their produce, profitably.

Housing Cooperative Society

1. This cooperative society helps its members to own a house in large cities and urban areas.

Credit Cooperative Society

1. This type of cooperative society provides short term loans on a low rate of interest to its members.

Characteristics of Cooperative Societies

1. Profits gets distributed
2. Reduced financial risk
3. It is mutually beneficial to members of low and middle income groups.
4. Its formation and participation of members is voluntary by nature.
5. The Government of India recognizes cooperative societies as an independent body.
6. Audits are performed in cooperative societies, hence it is managed professionally.
7. There are managing committees in cooperative societies, members are elected democratically.

Amul – GCMMF

1. It is an Indian dairy cooperative society.
2. Amul – GCMMF is headquartered in Anand, Gujarat.
3. Amul was established in 1946.
4. Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF) is the cooperative body which manages the brand of Amul.
5. GCMMF is currently owned by apex body of 13 District Milk Unions, (3.6 million) milk producers in Gujarat, spread across 13,000 villages of Gujarat.
6. India is the world’s largest producer of milk, this was the achievement of White Revolution in India, which was spurred by AMUL.
7. Dr Verghese Kurien is known as the father of White Revolution. He was the chairman of GCMMF for more than 30 years.