CO-OPERATIVE DRUG

There is a tendency among our rulers to take it for granted that co-operative movement in India has already become a people’s movement. As a result of their sustained propaganda nothing has suffered more than the movement itself. It is therefore refreshing to note that the RBI Governor, Shri H.V. R. Iengar, has brought some realism to bear on the subject. Speaking at the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the Vidarbha Co-operative Bank he emphasised the urgent need for first-rate leadership for the co-operative movement.The co-operative movement has degenerated into a preserve of the vested interests. And the domination of co-operative societies by individuals is achieved invariably with the support of politicians and political parties. Therefore, there is much to be said for Shri Iengar’s plea that election to co-operative bodies should not be fought on party lines. But at the same time it must be recognised that there is no way of keeping politics out of election. And if there is any way of insulating the co-operative movement from politics and politicians it is still in the realm of the unknown. Perhaps it would be more realistic to limit the elections to various co-operative bodies only to those who have been schooled in co-operation. But very few take advantage of the courses provided by those establishments for training in co-operation. Most of those trainees are mere job-seekers in the co-operative departments of state governments. Bad leadership of unschooled politicians and the uninspired way most officials of co-operative departments to go about their jobs constitute the worst drag on a movement on the success of which alone depends the realisation of our socialist ambitions.

February 28, 1961