Q.The main object of a housing co-operative society is to:

A housing co-operative society is a non-credit, non-trading co-operative set up for one special purpose connected with homes, and it works on service rather than profit.

Lending to farmers, selling goods and profit-maximisation all belong to other kinds of body, so only option (b) fits a housing society.

A housing co-operative society is formed for the special purpose of providing homes — acquiring land and building or arranging houses and flats for its members at a reasonable cost, on the co-operative motto of self-help through mutual help.

Option-by-option analysis:

• (a) Lend money to farmers for cultivation — Wrong. That is the work of an agricultural credit society, not a housing society.
• (b) Solve the housing problem of its members — Correct. This is the very object for which a housing society exists.
• (c) Sell consumer goods at fair prices — Wrong. That is the work of a consumers' co-operative society.
• (d) Earn maximum profit for its shareholders — Wrong. Every co-operative works on the motive of service, not maximum profit.

Students sometimes pick (d) by confusing a co-operative with a joint-stock company, or mix up the objects of the different co-operatives. Match each object to the right type: farm loans to credit societies, goods to consumers' societies, homes to housing societies.