Overview

Co-operative Education and Training — what this chapter covers

A co-operative society is owned and controlled by ordinary people. Its members elect the managing committee, its committee members frame policy, and its paid staff carry the work forward. But a society run by ordinary people can only succeed if those people actually understand what a co-operative is, how it should be run, and what their rights and duties are. A member who does not understand co-operation cannot participate meaningfully; an elected representative who lacks knowledge cannot govern well; an untrained employee cannot keep accounts, follow the law, or serve members efficiently. This is why the co-operative movement everywhere treats education and training as one of its own guiding principles — the fifth principle laid down by the International Co-operative Alliance.

This chapter studies how that principle is put into practice in India, and especially in Maharashtra. It first explains what co-operative education and co-operative training mean and how the two differ. It then examines why education and training are so important for the health and survival of the movement. Finally, it looks at the agencies that actually provide co-operative education and training in India — a connected, three-tier structure running from a national apex body down to the district and society level. The main agencies studied here are the National Co-operative Union of India (NCUI) and, under it, the National Council for Co-operative Training (NCCT) with the Vaikunth Mehta National Institute of Co-operative Management (VAMNICOM), Pune at its apex; the Maharashtra State Co-operative Union; and the district co-operative boards and co-operative training colleges/centres that carry education and training to members and staff on the ground.

Maharashtra has one of the most developed co-operative movements in the country, with thousands of credit, sugar, dairy, housing, marketing and consumer societies. Keeping such a large movement genuinely co-operative in spirit — and not merely co-operative in name — depends heavily on a steady supply of well-informed members and well-trained personnel. That is the real subject of this chapter.