About Us
Cooperation dates back as far as human beings have been organizing for mutual benefit. A Cooperative is a business concern owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit. A cooperative is defined by the International Cooperative Alliance’s Statement on the Cooperative Identity as “an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise”. A cooperative may also be defined as a business owned and controlled equally by the people who use its services or by the people who work there.
The cooperative movement began in Europe in the 19th century, primarily in Britain and France. The industrial revolution and the increasing mechanism of the economy transformed society and threatened the livelihoods of many workers. The basis for development and growth of the modern cooperative movement was the formulation of Rochdale Principles by the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers. The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers was a group of 10 weavers and 20 others in Rochdale, England, that was formed in 1844. With lessons from prior failed attempts at co-operation in mind, they designed the now famous Rochdale Principles, and over a period of four months they struggled to pool one pound sterling per person for a total of 28 pounds of capital. On December 21, 1844, they opened their store with a very meagre selection of butter, sugar, flour, oatmeal and a few candles. Within three months, they expanded their selection to include tea and tobacco, and they were soon known for providing high quality, unadulterated goods.
Robert Owen (1771–1858) is considered as the father of the cooperative 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. These ideas were put into effect successfully in the cotton mills of New Lanark, Scotland. It was here that the first co-operative store was opened. Spurred on by the success of this, he had the idea of forming “villages of co-operation” where workers would drag themselves out of poverty by growing their own food, making their own clothes and ultimately becoming self-governing. He tried to form such communities in Orbiston in Scotland and in New Harmony, Indiana in the United States of America
Although Owen inspired the co-operative movement, others – such as Dr William King (1786–1865) – took his ideas and made them more workable and practical. King believed in starting small, and realized that the working classes would need to set up co-operatives for themselves, so he saw his role as one of instruction. He founded a monthly periodical called The Co-operator,[9] the first edition of which appeared on 1 May 1828. This gave a mixture of co-operative philosophy and practical advice about running a shop using cooperative principles. King advised people not to cut themselves off from society, but rather to form a society within a society, and to start with a shop because, “We must go to a shop every day to buy food and necessaries – why then should we not go to our own shop?” He proposed sensible rules, such as having a weekly account audit, having 3 trustees.
The cooperative movement was found to be very effective media for socio economic development of Kerala. The Credit sector registered remarkable progress in Kerala. www.Sahakary.org is an attempt to learn more about Kerala cooperation. It is the product of a team work. I wish all viewers a different browsing experience from www.sahakary.org.
SIBYMON P, PERIAPPURAM.
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF COOP SOCIETIES