Common people are the backbone of cooperative movement. Cooperatives have a dominant presence and they play a leading role in sectors like agriculture, credit, marketing, milk, fertilizers, cotton, sugar, fisheries, handlooms, etc. One can assess the significance of this sector from the fact that in States like Kerala even medical colleges are run by cooperatives. All of them are supposed to be governed by its members to protect their interests. But, for all practical purpose, they have fraudulently served the interests of politicians and political parties at the cost of its genuine members. 

Lured by this falsified charm, leaders make all-out efforts to snake their way and capture cooperative societies of every hue which are like treasure pots. Once at the helm of affairs, they wield enormous clout. Through favours showered upon their cronies, it becomes easy for them to garner votes during Assembly and general elections. Many of them amass wealth through unfair means, weakening the financial base of these societies; in the process several of them have gone bust. 

In this context the establishment of a new Ministry of Cooperation under the redoubtable Amit Shah has raised many eyebrows. ‘Cooperatives’ is a State subject and till now it has been under the control of the Registrar of Cooperatives of each State. Hence the setting up of the new Central Ministry is taken with a pinch of salt. Shah, coming from Gujarat where cooperatives have a strong base, knows full well the penetrating roots the movement has taken across the country and its hold among the common people. The move by the Centre is seen as yet another bid to have a “strong grip” at the grassroot-level. Political parties and leaders apparently consider cooperatives something to be milked for electoral and pecuniary benefits.  

Herein lies the clue to many cooperatives going broke. There is probably no State which has not reported major scandals and scams in this sector. The humongous scams in Madhavapura Mercantile Cooperative bank in Ahmedabad and the latest Karuvannur Co-operative Bank in Kerala, running into hundreds of crores and hitting tens of thousands of depositors, are just a tip of the iceberg. Such defaulting cooperatives, led by people with strong political backing, have made people paupers and led to their death by suicide. In most cases, ‘thieves’ were in the ship itself.  

Though the apparent objective of the new Ministry is to deepen the “people-based movement as an economic development model”, the present regime’s tendency to gnaw away the federal structure makes people wary of the government’s decision. If the purpose is to reverse the rot that has weakened the system, it is a laudatory move. If the new Ministry can bring scores of cooperatives that have defaulted on payment to its members back on their track and return people’s hard-earned money with interest, it will be a worthy decision. On the other hand, if the move is meant to tighten the ruling party’s and its government’s grip on the cooperatives across the country to seek political and economic gains, it could probably be the end of the road for a sector that has worked wonders for the people.