Co-operative Society and Types of Co-operative Societies-Class 11,Class 12,HSC

What is a Co-operative Society? Types of Co-operative Societies

A Co-operative Society is a voluntary association of people who come together and invest their small savings to form the organization. The Co-operative Society is formed for the mutual benefit of all the members. The members of the co-operative society are people who come together and invest their small savings to form the organization which will work towards their common cause. The Co-operative Society is formed with an idea of supporting each other to achieve a common economic objective. For example, the farmers may come together and form a co-operative society to work jointly and take advantage of economies of scale. When they work together they will have a better bargaining power for buying raw materials. They will also enjoy a better bargaining power while selling their agricultural output. Minimum no of members required to start a cooperative society is 10. However, there is no upper limit to the number of members that a cooperative society can have.




Types of Co-operative Societies-

1. Consumers cooperative society. Consumers cooperative society is an organization which buys goods in bulk either from a wholesaler or from the manufacturer and sells those goods to its members in small quantities and at a very reasonable rate. So the members of Consumers cooperative society get goods at a rate which is cheaper as compared to the market rate. Members are also paid a bonus out of the profits made by the consumer co-operative society. 

2. Credit cooperative societies- Credit Co-operative Societies are financial institutions which are established with the objective of providing loans to its members at a reasonable rate of interest. The main objective of credit co-operative society is to provide financial assistance to its members when they require. Credit cooperative societies also create employment opportunities for its members by providing loans to buy a rickshaw or a taxi. Such credit cooperative societies can also be found in a lot of government companies or organizations. The employees of such organizations form employee credit cooperative societies. The employees are granted loans quickly and without many formalities in such credit cooperative societies. The main objective of such credit cooperative societies is to provide financial assistance to the employees quickly as and when they require. A certain portion of the employees' salary is deducted every month from his salary and is deposited in such employees cooperative credit societies. This is how the employees' credit cooperative society generates funds to lend to the needy employees.



3. Farming cooperative societies- Such societies are formed by the farmers who come together and pool their land to conduct the agricultural activities jointly. By conducting the agriculture activities jointly, they can make use of the scientific and modern methods of cultivation which they probably cannot afford working individually.

4. Producers cooperative societies- Such societies are formed by small scale producers. Such cooperative societies provide their members with raw materials, modern tools and techniques so that they can compete with bigger producers.

5. Marketing cooperative societies - The marketing cooperative societies provide marketing assistance to its members. The output of the members of the marketing cooperative societies is sold centrally through marketing cooperative societies. Such societies perform all marketing functions like standardizing, grading, branding, packaging, advertising, transportation, etc on behalf of its members.

6. Housing cooperative societies - Such a co-operative society is formed by members who come together and buy a piece of land and then develop it as a residential building. The flats of the building are then allotted to all the members