Speech by Hon'ble President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, at the Inauguration of the Indian Cooperative Congress

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am glad to be here on the occasion of the 15th Indian Cooperative Congress being organized by National Cooperative Union of India. I welcome all delegates to this Congress and wish them success in their deliberations.

The National Cooperative Union of India has done commendable work in effectively articulating the views and concerns of the cooperative movement. I recall my association as a Governing Council Member with NCUI and recognize the role played by it in impressing upon the Government of India to amend the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act.

The Cooperative movement in India is now more than a hundred years old. Our founding fathers envisioned that cooperatives would play a very important role in our development process. Pandit Nehru said, "My outlook is to convulse India with the Cooperative Movement, � to make it broadly speaking the basic activity of India, in every village as elsewhere and finally, indeed to make the cooperative approach the common thinking of India". It is encouraging that the number of cooperatives in India have increased from 1.8 lakh in 1950-51 to 5.5 lakh and the total membership of cooperative societies has increased from 1.55 crore to 20.4 crore. These cooperatives have been operating in various areas of the economy such as credit, agriculture production, processing, marketing, housing, dairy and textiles.

In a fast globalizing world order, the challenge for the cooperatives is to have a strategy to adapt to new requirements. Cooperative societies would need to sharpen their core competencies and devise market-driven business strategies appropriate to their circumstances. They should also increase their effectiveness, improve their competitiveness and work in a professional manner to face increasing global competition from multi-nationals and bigger corporate businesses. The environment in which cooperatives are required to work has changed but their relevance and role remains. The theme of this Congress "Reforms Initiative: Vision for Autonomous and Competitive Cooperatives" is, therefore, most appropriate.

We have witnessed high economic growth in our country but large sections of the population have remained out of the purview of the benefits of growth. Cooperatives aim at growth with equity. They can, thus, be useful institutions for inclusive growth as they meet the requirements in respect of their core clients - farmers, growers, artisans, handloom weavers, producers and women, who need the support of the cooperative movement. Cooperatives are an institutional mechanism for involving millions of our people who fall outside the purview of the formal economy to participate in economic activities.

The National Policy on Cooperatives of the Government of India encourages the cooperative movement to run on professional lines and to function democratically so that cooperatives can become self-sufficient and economically viable organizations. My Government is committed to the re-vitalization of the cooperative sector. I am confident that the cooperative sector under the dynamic leadership of Shri Sharad Pawar, Union Minister of Agriculture, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution will benefit from his support and experience.

The strength of the cooperative movement is in its collectivity. For individual cooperative banks and societies to be competitive, the sector as a whole must be strong and each unit should be backed by collective strength. Cooperatives ought to seriously consider ways of further strengthening networking amongst themselves.

Cooperatives in different states have had different degrees of success. Cooperatives in some states have been more successful while in others they have not been so. This Congress provides an opportunity for an exchange of views so that the best practices can be emulated by other cooperatives. Reform in the cooperative sector is the need of the day. A favourable legal environment that provides a level playing field for cooperatives is necessary. Many State Governments are yet to amend the State Cooperative Societies Act in line with the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, which will provide autonomy and independence to cooperatives. This should be done at the earliest. If it is felt that there are some provisions of the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, that in the changed situation require amendment, these maybe considered appropriately. I also feel that you will have to think about bringing change in the style, setup and functioning of cooperatives to make them more flexible and businesslike without losing the spirit of co-operation.

Cooperatives catering to agriculture are facing some degree of decline but their presence in this sector is needed more today than ever before. Cooperatives have played an important role in the delivery of credit to farmers and provided support for various agricultural activities ranging from production to processing and marketing. It would be recalled that the genesis of the cooperative movement in India was agriculture. It was the problem of rural indebtedness that motivated farmers in the late 19th Century to come together and pool their meager resources for solving problems of credit supply of inputs and marketing of agriculture produce. Today, the cooperative movement in rural areas should work not only in the traditional fashion but also in a more forceful and pro-active manner. Primary cooperative credit societies should not only meet the credit needs of farmers but also provide guidance and become more agriculturist friendly cooperatives.

Urban Cooperative Banks in different parts of the country are playing a vital role in helping people with limited resources in urban areas and semi-urban areas. The banking and the financial sector are essentially based on the trust of depositors and the public. The urban cooperative credit sector must look at all avenues of enhancing this trust and increasing their share in the credit market.

To rejuvenate cooperatives as well-governed and financially well-managed institutions, it is necessary to have dynamic leadership, committed professionals and well-trained staff. Leadership should focus on building the credibility of the institution, while professionals run the organization on sound managerial principles. I would like to emphasise the importance of training and building up strong human resources for the cooperatives. I, therefore, urge all cooperatives to invest adequately and appropriately, in human resources for capacity building in the cooperative movement. The National Cooperative Union of India is organizing training courses, holding seminars and conducting inter-State tours for the members and leaders of cooperatives. It will establish the Jawaharlal Nehru Deemed University, which is the first of its kind in South-East Asia. It was the foresight and the cherished dream of Sawai Singh Sisodiaji to set up such an institution. I am sure that this University will be able to cater to the needs of cooperative education, extension and research in the days to come.

Cooperatives should seek the participation of women and youth. Empowerment of women through cooperatives has been much talked about but we need to go a long way in making it a reality. Similarly, the idea of cooperatives should be imbibed in the minds of the youth. Educational institutions should hold courses on cooperatives in their campuses so that youth can develop an understanding and appreciation of the Cooperative movement.

Let me conclude by once again conveying my best wishes for fruitful discussions in the Congress, which I am confident will make constructive recommendations that would help the cooperative movement in improving its performance.

Thank You.

JAI HIND !