Structure of the co-operative Societies in India
Cooperative societies may be classified into different categories based on the objectives, and purpose for which they are formed and nature of activities they are performing.
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When few cooperatives are formed to achieve to specific economic objectives, others are came up with an objectives of upliftment of social and economical status of its members. Based on that the following are the forms of co-operative societies which have developed in India.
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(a) Consumer cooperatives
(b) Producer cooperatives
(c) Marketing cooperatives
(d) Housing cooperatives
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(e) Credit cooperatives
(f) Cooperative Farming societies
(a) Consumer Cooperatives:
Consumers cooperatives are formed with the objective of fulfilling need and requirement of its member consumer by supplying goods and services at cheaper rate by eliminating the middlemen.
They develop relationship directly with the manufactures, purchase the goods at wholesale price and sell them to members at comparatively less than market price.
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The profit margin which the wholesalers and retailers are supposed to enjoy are pass on to the members by the society, hence charges less price from the members without compromising the quality.
(b) Producers Cooperatives:
These types of cooperatives are formed to assist the manufactures/industrial units in setting up, production and marketing their products. It procures plants and machineries, raw materials and other necessary items for facilitate the member in production of goods and services.
It also, at times, takes the responsibility of marketing the products produced by the manufactures. Small producers are mainly benefited out of this process. They are concentrating more and more on production and other are duly taken care by the cooperatives.
(c) Marketing Cooperatives:
It is an established fact that many a small producers are not successful in their projects because they lack marketing skill and network. Quality production and cheap rate do not come to their rescue in marketing.
It is the marketing cooperative whose business is the purchase all the goods produced by the small manufacturer and market them when market is favorable or at different places where there is demand for the same. The producer benefited by selling and society by earning commission from such sales.
(d) Housing Cooperatives:
Affording to the basic need of a house or to have a land to construct a house is a stupendous task on the part of a common man due to want of requisite fund, proper facility, managerial ability and others.
Housing cooperative society are those voluntary association of members which engaged in acquiring land from general public, develop the same, construct houses as per the requirement of members and transfer the ownership in their favour.
In consideration. The members pays the price on easy installment basis, or simple term loan basis some society also sells plots to their members.
(e) Credit Cooperatives:
The very objective behind formation of a cooperative society is to make free the people of down trodden society from the clutch of village money lender.
In the name of financial support, they have exploited the poor and needy people in many a ways, thus poorer were not given opportunity to improve their socio-economic stand. Credit cooperative come in their way.
They have been assisting the poor farmers and needy people of the society with the provision of soft loans, easy loans at comparatively lower rate of interest and easy terms and conditions. In this process atheist, exploitation of money lenders has been checked to a great extent.
Credit cooperatives are of two types namely:
i) Agricultural credit cooperatives, and
ii) Non-Agricultural credit cooperatives.
An agricultural credit cooperative extends credit to the rural people for both productive and non-productive purposes, mainly related to agricultural financing. A non-agricultural society is meant for urban as well as rural masses and to meet their financial requirement for any other purposes.
(f) Cooperative Farming society:
This society is formed by the farmers of a particular locality. Instead of going for individual farming, they go for mass farming to get higher rate of return from economies of scale.
Combined they contribute land, labour, and capital in the field of agriculture and share of benefits in a desired proportion among the members.
This process is more benefited because of (i) Mass production (ii) Maximum output, (iii) Application of advanced technologies, fertilizers, seeds and others, (iv) pooled resources fund, land and labour etc. (v) no financial crunch.