India @100 with cooperatives at the helm!
In 25 years, India will celebrate 100 years of independence. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has referred to the next 25 years as Amrit Kaal, the time when bigger success can be achieved with proper efforts. Cooperatives with their long and rich history, wide presence across the country, deep penetration in many sectors are well positioned to play an important role to propel India’s growth ambition! The time is now to look and prepare for the role cooperatives can play to support the India envisioned @100.
The Competitiveness roadmap for India@100 based on the Competitiveness framework developed by Professor Michael E. Porter articulates a development approach embedded in integrating social and economic agendas. The '4S' guiding principles stress the need for economic prosperity to be matched by social progress, to be shared across all regions within India, to be environmentally sustainable, and to be solid in the face of external shocks. These align well with the Statement of Cooperative Identity which emphasize sustainable economic development, shared ownership, self-help, and self-responsibility. The cooperative enterprise model has shown its strength and resilience in the face of financial crises and the ravages of the pandemic. The importance of cooperatives has been recognized in India through the creation of the Ministry of Cooperation. Cooperatives can show a better path to India@100 by building an India which brings economic resources under democratic control, creates ownership of resources, provides employment opportunities, builds resilience, protects the environment, and creates social capital.
By 2047, India is expected to be a $20 trillion dollar economy, up from the current $ 3.53 trillion and per capita income expected to rise from $2,000 to $10,000! In India today, there is significant rural-urban divide where the income of an average person in the rural parts of India is less than half of their urban counterpart. ?Villages will need to be self-sufficient and independent in providing welfare services and employment and connected with the rest of the country. Cooperatives will have an important role to play in the coming years in reducing the divide by ensuring rural incomes increase, reducing disparities in income distribution and consumption, ensuring availability of physical and social infrastructure, and improving the overall quality of life. Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) which are in existence for over 118 years’ work directly at the village level. The functional 63,000 PACS provide agriculture finance of Rs. 2 lakh crore and plans are to increase them to 300,000 and finance to Rs. 10 lakh crores. PACS need to move beyond their current mandate of credit and diversify their business and undertake activities that enhance the income and quality of life of farmers.???
India will be the most populous country with a population of 1.64 billion (up from 1.42 billion in 2022) and will have nearly 50% (0.82 billion) of its population residing in urban areas.?By some estimates, 70 percent of India’s GDP comes from its cities; however, inequality in terms of wealth and income is more pronounced in urban area, with expansive slums and a large urban poor population. Cities in the future need to be engines of economic growth, better locales to live in, and providers of sustainable livelihoods for all. They need to retain their identity and enhance quality of life across strata. Cooperatives so far have a larger presence in rural areas. They need to help build better cities from the bottom-up and promote direct Government to Citizen (G2C) relationship in efficient delivery of services. ?The UNESCO in its list of intangible heritage has recognized the idea and practice of organizing shared interests in cooperatives. Cooperative as entities allow for community building through shared interests and values creating innovative solutions to societal problems, from generating employment and assisting urban revitalization and renewable energy projects.
India entered the demographic dividend opportunity window in 2005-06 and will remain there till 2055-56. It is in golden period of 30 years between 2020 and 2050 when the working-age population will bulge and the dependency ratio in terms of the proportion of children and elderly people is low.?However, India is not creating sufficient jobs to meet the needs of the country’s young and rapidly growing working population. This is creating huge income inequality, social tensions, and divisive politics in the country. The conditions needed to tap the potential include having healthy and well-nourished, appropriately educated, and skilled youth, a growing economy capable of providing gainful employment and a meaningful life. Capturing the benefits of the demographic divided requires paying equal attention if not more to girls and women. Experts have advocated on skills strategy based on the three Es--education, employment, and employability.?Cooperatives which are businesses with triple bottom line (economic, social, and environmental) working with principles which emphasize education and training, and the community are well positioned to address needs of youth in rural and urban areas. However, there is hardly any venue??to learn about cooperatives as it is not taught in schools and universities. We need to create spaces (clubs, textbooks, incubators, laboratories) where models like cooperatives, social economy, social enterprises can be taught. Cooperatives through their extensive network of training and education institutes can play an active role not only in developing the vocational skills of youth but also encouraging them to form and become owners of cooperatives.
India with a youth bulge is not immune to the aging reality. By 2047, senior citizens will make up approximately 20% of its population, numbering 338 million. With aging population, changing family structure, and added economic pressures we need to pay serious attention to needs of seniors to ensure we are not left with a skewed “dependency ratio.” Cooperatives as member-based organizations put health and well-being ahead of profits and play a crucial role in care for the individual, prevention of illness, and social wellbeing of members and/or their dependents. An integrated community care (ICC) is needed to provide housing, medical care, long-term care, prevention services and livelihood support in communities. Under the gloomy forecast of a rapidly aging society, care for the elderly is turning into a veritable money-spinner just as private school education already is!?Cooperatives need to play a key role with vulnerable populations, including the disabled, seniors, and the mentally ill and adopt an all-inclusive membership base. ?
Currently agriculture contributes 20% to the GDP, industry contributes 26% and services 54%. ?By 2047 manufacturing will be 35% of the GDP, services 55% and 10% devoted to agriculture.?The services sector comprises a wide range of activities from the most sophisticated information technology to simple and basic services provided by the unorganized sector. It stimulates growth and expansion in other economic sectors like agriculture, handicrafts, transportation, construction, etc. By 2047, cooperatives need to play an important role in the services sector by collectivizing workers, increasing their bargaining for productive assets, enhancing financial inclusion, and generating employment and jobs.?Cooperatives will need to bridge the digital divide and ensure its members are digital literate. Cooperatives can also play an important role in adding value to the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) ecosystem by generating cluster effect, selling, and buying, and in supporting business services.?
India today has one of the world’s lowest female labor force participation rates (LFPR) which means the productive potential of half of the population goes unutilized. According to ILO data, India’s female LFPR in 2021 was lower than the world average at 25.1%.? It is estimated that women in India contribute 17% of the national GDP, as against the global average of 40%.?The target set for 2047 is 50% female LFPR which would contribute significantly to India’s growth prospects. Cooperatives currently are male dominated with limited diversity, especially when it comes to gender. Entrenched patriarchy results in women being discriminated against, especially around land inheritance, membership, and ownership. There are successful examples of cooperatives playing a key role in collectivizing women and increasing their bargaining for productive assets, enhancing financial inclusion, and generating employment and jobs.?To play their part cooperatives need to put in place a targeted drive to get women into self-help groups or cooperatives and strengthen them with advanced skilling in use of technology that makes lives easier, along with finances to acquire such technology; basics of finance management; and creating an enabling ecosystem. The narrative is compelling, and it is time that cooperatives take note and utilize the talent and ability of women in cooperative businesses.??Investing in women leads to gender equality, poverty eradication and economic growth. ??
The cooperative movement in India is showcased as the largest in the world with a network of over 8.5 lakh covering 90 percent of the villages. But the more noteworthy numbers are in the production and procurement realm:
19 per cent of agricultural credit
21 per cent of fish production
25 per cent of fertilizer production
31 per cent of sugar production
10 per cent of the production and procurement of milk
13 per cent of wheat procurement
20 per cent of paddy procurement
What would we want these numbers to be by 2047? Even more than these, what would be the number of women in leadership position? The participation rate of youth in cooperatives? There are a few iconic brands in cooperatives - AMUL, IFFCO, KRIBHCO, NAFED, Saraswat Bank, SEWA, ULCCS… How many more such names can we add by 2047? Aspirations with targets will set cooperatives on the path to the India envisioned in 2047. ?
As stated by Prime Minister Modi, “Cooperatives are a third economic model - controlled neither by government nor capitalists. It is created with the cooperation of farmers and people, and everybody is a part of it. This is one viable alternative to socialism and capitalism. There is a culture of cooperative in our thinking. We need to take it forward and think how we can take it forward in many other areas." Indeed, cooperatives will have an important part in all dimensions of the India@100 growth story!?
References:
EAC-PM Releases the Competitiveness Roadmap for India@100
$40 trillion economy by 2047 possible if working age population is employed: CII report
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