Linking of credit cooperatives with local societies: the Indian experience

An inclusive involvement of the entirety of the population is the desirable model of development. Each local society and community has its own features and interests and there is a need of organisations that are capable of catering them. The cooperative form of organisation is suited in addressing the needs of local communities and contributing to social and economic aspects of the civil society. The extent of this achievement of cooperatives depends on their efficiency. The organisational structure and the operational model have to be developed taking into consideration the requirements of the local communities. India as a country is characterised by a high diversity in multiple aspects. In such a context, the priority must be to reach out to the local communities and identify their needs. A collective and inclusive development of the local population will contribute to the larger development of the country as a whole. The creation of cooperative forms of organisations and a proper structuring of them is required for achieving this objective of reaching out to the local community. This paper is an attempt to analyse the structure and functioning of credit cooperatives in India and to assess to what extent the same is conducive for connecting the local societies.