Q.What is meant by correspondence? Explain the importance of correspondence in a co-operative society.

So much of a co-operative society's dealings must be carried on in writing that correspondence becomes a central function of its administration rather than a mere clerical routine.

It is important because it conducts the society's business, provides a permanent record and evidence, keeps the society in touch with members and outside parties, builds goodwill, and secures legal compliance.

Correspondence means the exchange of information, requests, instructions, and decisions in writing between two parties. In the co-operative context, secretarial correspondence is the whole body of written communication — letters, notices, circulars, applications, returns, and replies — that the secretary sends out on behalf of the society and receives on its behalf from members, the managing committee, the Registrar and other authorities, banks, and auditors. Unlike a casual spoken word, a written communication is durable: it can be filed, referred to later, and produced as evidence, which is exactly why so much of a society's dealings are carried on in writing.

The importance of correspondence to a co-operative society can be seen under several heads. First, it is the ordinary means of conducting the society's business — admitting members, calling meetings, collecting dues, arranging finance, and complying with the law all require written communication. Second, a properly filed letter is a permanent record and serves as evidence of what was communicated, by whom, and when; if a dispute arises about whether a member was given notice or whether a return was filed in time, the file settles it. Third, correspondence is the link that keeps the society in touch with everyone it deals with — it keeps members informed of their rights and obligations, keeps the committee's decisions on record, keeps the Registrar satisfied that the society is complying with the Act, keeps the bank correctly instructed, and keeps the auditor engaged.

Fourth, good correspondence builds and protects the society's goodwill and reputation, because the tone and accuracy of its letters shape how members and outsiders regard it. Fifth, there is an element of legal compliance: the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 and the Rules require a society to give written notices of meetings, to file periodical returns, and to communicate certain matters to the Registrar, and failure to send the required written communication in the required manner and time can amount to a breach of the Act. For all these reasons — business necessity, evidentiary value, maintenance of relations, goodwill, and legal compliance — correspondence is not a mere clerical routine but a central function of the society's administration.