On the occasion of International Cooperative Day
By Shankar Man Sing
International Cooperative Day is celebrated on the first Saturday of July since 1923 by the International Cooperative Alliance. On 1 December 1992, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 47/90, declaring the first Saturday in July 1995 as Cooperative Day, marking the centenary of the founding of the International Cooperative Alliance.
The general meaning of cooperative refers to cooperation, coexistence, equal work or work done together. Cooperatives are the collective effort to raise their economic, social and cultural status by working together. Ancient cooperatives originated from Eastern philosophy. Cooperatives are a form of organization in which individuals voluntarily unite as human beings based on equality for the promotion of their economic interests.
Cooperative is a movement. Being helpless against the exploitation of capitalism is not just a joint effort for all. Cooperatives around the world celebrate this day in different ways and each year the organizing organizations agree on a theme for the celebration.
Cooperative (“coop”) or cooperative is an autonomous organization of individuals who voluntarily contribute to their mutual, social, economic, and cultural benefits. The idea of economic democracy has given rise to the cooperative people’s movement worldwide. In the United States, the National Cooperative Trade Union acts as the national membership association of the region. It is dedicated to ensuring that cooperatives have the same opportunities that are operating in other countries and that consumers have access to cooperatives in the market.
International Cooperative Day 2021
Cooperatives are generally defined as community-based, and member-owned, managed, and controlled organizations. The first cooperative in Nepal was established in 1956. Due to the lack of basic understanding of cooperatives, the movement in Nepal was very weak until 1992. A major change in this area took place in 1992 when the Cooperatives Act 1992 was issued.
Cooperatives in Nepal offer a wide range of services, including savings and credit, insurance and non-financial services. Their achievements in the field of socio-economic development of the members indicate that they can grow as cooperative players in the development of Nepal. This proves that if the cooperatives operating in different villages are strengthened, they can make a significant contribution to improving financial access and the interests of the members.
Nepal has a long cultural tradition of informal community-based cooperatives, including savings and credit unions, known as “dhikuti”, and the grain savings and labour exchange system, traditionally known as “dharma bhakiri”. Similarly, a cursory review of the history of the Guthi provided a forum for the smooth running of various socio-cultural practices. Many of these traditional support systems are still in operation in rural Nepal.
The first Cooperatives Act was enacted by the government in 1960, which after the Agricultural Cooperatives Act (Common Cooperatives) turned the savings and credit cooperative capital into a cooperative bank in 1963, and in 1968 it was transformed into the Agriculture Development Bank (ADBN). And in 1975, the Cooperatives Act was amended again.
The Cooperatives Act was amended for the third time to give the government more control. By this time, the savings and debt movement had spread across the country and the need for a top coordination body was evident.
The Nepali cooperative movement has seen many socio-economic as well as political changes. In 2008, Nepal was declared the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. In 2015, the Constituent Assembly promulgated Nepal’s new constitution, which recognized the cooperative sector as one of the three pillars of the national economy.
In 2018 and 2019, new Cooperatives Act and rules were implemented. The new constitution has decentralized and empowered local and provincial governments to pass laws and do what they need to do. Provincial governments and local government bodies can now declare and enforce cooperative laws.
According to the Department of Cooperatives, the main types of cooperatives operating in Nepal are savings and credit, multipurpose, dairy, agriculture, fruits and vegetables, beekeeping, tea, coffee, consumer, science and technology, and energy.
Today, cooperatives around the world are seen as increasingly level players, effectively organizing farmers and small businesses, providing much-needed financial support, and empowering the poor to create jobs and generate income-generating activities. It is therefore not surprising that the Government of Nepal has embraced the public and private sectors as well as cooperatives, one of the three main pillars of the economy.
The Day is being celebrated with the slogan “Building back together again”. Cooperatives around the world demonstrate with solidarity and resilience how they are coping with the Covid-19 epidemic crisis and providing communities with a people-centred and environmentally friendly recovery.
Last year we saw how the cooperative model is working for the benefit of the people and what the cooperative movement points to. We will rebuild better together and be confident that the cooperative movement will help many communities in the epidemic world to see more stories in health, agriculture, manufacturing, retail, finance, housing, employment, education, social services and other areas where Cooperatives are found, with over one billion cooperative members worldwide proving that no one faces a crisis. Like their own epidemic.
The purpose of celebrating the Day is to raise awareness of cooperatives and to promote the movement’s ideas of international solidarity, economic efficiency, equality, and world peace.
The Central Federation of Cooperative Cooperatives of Nepal (NACCFL), an umbrella organization of agricultural cooperatives, seems to be involved in the vegetable market in rural areas. The sector also provides direct employment to more than 50,000 people while indirectly providing additional 100,000 employment opportunities in various sectors. Many cooperatives suffer from unbearable investment in risky sectors – many cooperatives lack professional management and adequate knowledge, principles and practices of cooperatives.
People are more attracted to cooperatives because the returns are higher and they go to the customer’s house and provide a higher level of service. The interest rate is so high that it is difficult for you to get a return if you borrow and invest in other projects. It charges interest as well as various types of fees on the loan (loan fee, membership fee, call fee, organization development fee, appraisal fee, other fees).
Problems in cooperatives
In Nepal, there is a lack of clarity about the mission, national outlook and adequate monitoring of the government in terms of the cooperative movement. Lack of managerial skills and professionalism, lack of planning and implementation working capital, proper research, expansion of cooperative movement and lack of education credit.
The investment of founders and operators is natural, not just nominal. It should be run democratically and move forward following the spirit and principles of cooperatives. The organization should have a strong social base, not cheap popularity. The organization should have sufficient share capital and other funds. As per the rules, savings have to be collected only from the members and loans have to be invested only within the members shortly after becoming a member.
Emphasis on the merger of cooperatives
The government has a plan to make cashless transactions through cooperatives. The government is going to encourage mergers between cooperatives. His merger seems to have been emphasized with the aim of increasing the quality by reducing the number of cooperatives. Some cooperatives have already merged. In this case, there is a possibility of practical and policy problems when the organization is merged.
There are about 34,000 cooperatives in Nepal at present. Of them, about 14,000 are savings and credit cooperatives. The rest are multi-purpose and regional cooperatives. The majority of cooperatives are involved in agricultural production and processing. There are those who believe that savings and credit cooperatives operating in urban areas have acted against the values and norms of cooperatives. Therefore, the attitude towards the overall cooperative sector has become bad.
Develop the habit of saving
Cooperatives have succeeded in teaching the habit of ‘earn, spend and save’ to earn, save for the future and spend only.
Cooperatives have been included in the periodical plan and annual budget with importance. After long efforts of the National Cooperative Development Board, cooperative bodies and stakeholders, the Government of Nepal issued the National Cooperative Policy, 2069 BS.
Accordingly, the National Cooperative Development Board, National Cooperative Union, National Cooperative Bank and Central Agricultural Cooperative Union have become members of the International Federation of Cooperatives, the umbrella organization of world cooperatives.
Login to add a comment