Q.Why is 'Education, Training and Information' included among the principles of co-operation? Explain how the co-operative agencies in India put this principle into practice.

The principle exists because a member-run movement can only be as strong as its members' understanding and its personnel's competence.

Why it is a principle. The fifth principle of co-operation laid down by the ICA is "Education, Training and Information." It is treated as a principle — not an optional activity — because a co-operative is owned and democratically controlled by its own members and run by its own personnel. Such a movement can be no stronger than the understanding of its members and the competence of its staff. Members who do not understand co-operation cannot participate or control the society meaningfully; untrained staff cannot manage it efficiently or honestly; and without an informed public the movement cannot renew itself. Education, training and information are therefore what keep the movement genuinely co-operative and alive — which is why the ICA raised them to the level of a guiding principle.

How India's agencies put it into practice. India realises this principle through a connected three-tier structure:

• National level — the NCUI promotes co-operative education across the country and, through the NCCT with VAMNICOM, Pune at its apex, provides advanced professional training, research, consultancy and training-of-trainers, along with publications and propaganda.
• State level — the state co-operative unions (in Maharashtra, the Maharashtra State Co-operative Union) plan and co-ordinate co-operative education and training within the state, and bring out literature in regional languages.
• District/local level — district co-operative boards conduct mass member-education and basic training of small-society staff, while co-operative training colleges and education centres provide formal certificate/diploma and specialised courses. …