۱۰۰-Year Brilliant Experience of Cooperatives Sector in India

Cooperative sector should be able to meet economic demands of the country partly. In other words, cooperative sector should be held responsible for generation of employment and also spread economic justice in society.
Announcing the above in an interview with our reporter, Savitri Singh, who was one of key speakers in International Conference on Advantages and Capacities of Cooperatives in Economic and Social Development, pointed to the main objectives of International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) and said: "ICA has 283 members from 94 world countries which is tasked with materialization of objectives of the cooperatives."
In addition, ICA is duty bound to promote quality of cooperatives sector in various economic activities.
It should be noted that Ms. Savitri Singh has the following responsibilities: senior advisor for Women's Affairs and Communications, International Cooperative Alliance, Asia and Pacific Region, Director of the HIV / AIDS program in ICA -AP since 2002.
As far as cooperative is concerned in India, she said: "Based on statistics, one fourth of cooperatives in India are of agricultural cooperative and there is one cooperative society in each village."
Among other countries in world, India is the country which is heavily dependent on rural economy, she said, adding: "Since cooperatives have good consistency with rural economy, this sector has been outshined in Indian economy in the best form possible."
Cooperative companies in India have active presence in the field of production, marketing, distribution, services and banking and national cooperative union in India is the main organization of cooperatives in this Asian country. The year ۲۰۰۴ coincided with centennial or ۱۰۰th foundation anniversary of cooperatives in India. India is home to ۵۲۸,۲۴۹ cooperatives at large that have ۲۲۸ million members.
Since 70 percent of population is living in rural areas, most cooperatives have been established at villages, she maintained.
After economic reforms in India in ۱۹۹۱, a giant development was observed in cooperatives sector of the country.
Cooperatives sector is of paramount importance in Indian economy in a way that a banking system has been defined for it, she said, adding: "Cooperative banks in India are considered as main component of financial system of this country due to the roles and responsibilities they have."
In the end, she pointed to different types of cooperatives in India and said: "Cooperatives in India include labor cooperative, consumer cooperative, sugar cooperative, weaving an" d spinning factories, fertilizer production plant, dairy products and fishing cooperatives.