'Autonomy crucial for success of co-ops'

National Co-operative Dairy Federation of India Limited (NCDFI) chairman V Kurien on Tuesday reiterated his stand that co-operatives must be autonomous organisations and that their success depends on self reliance.

Speaking at the annual general meeting of NCDFI at Anand on Tuesday, Kurien said co-operatives need to be insulated bureaucratic and political interference for them to do well.

Kurien said the role of the government including the institutions it creates for development of the co-operatives should be that of a facilitator.

If the co-operatives are to be made strong, they need to be protected and nurtured appropriately, he said.

"Co-operatives need to be insulated from undue bureaucratic, political and registrar's interference. The competitiveness in the co-operative sector can only be instilled by allowing them the freedom to operate independently.

"The future success of the co-operatives depends on their autonomy and self reliance," said Kurien.

Addressing the 34th annual general meeting of the co-operative, Kurien felt that the government legislative and policy support to co-operatives is inadequate and co-operative laws need to be revamped as these were formulated long ago and government policies since have changed in a big way.

"The functioning of co-operatives as independent business organisations has suffered due to frequent bureaucratic and political interference, which has ultimately led to poor business performance by co-operatives and has set in a culture that denies competitive orientation," the NCDFI chairman felt.

Stating that although there has been some progress in this area, Kurien felt that both the Central as well as state governments are now required to reform co-operative laws and enact liberal laws that allow them to function freely.

The responsibility lies with the government to create an enabling environment for the growth and development of co-operatives, he said.

He remarked that despite massive presence and varying levels of success, co-operatives in India are today beset with some serious challenges.

He said that increasingly deregulated and globalised economy throws up huge challenges before the sector to perform or perish.

He added that the situation the world over is no different and co-operatives are now required to compete directly with private corporates and multinational companies to even retain control of their business.

Kurien felt that dairy co-operatives need to improve the quality of their products if they want to remain competitive in the market and will have to consolidate on the growth achieved during the past few decades by improving the qualitative standards of products and services.