Report on Evaluation of Consumer Co-Operatives

Abstract

The history of consumers’ cooperatives in India can be traced almost from the initiation of the Cooperative Movement itself, but unfortunately its growth has been very slow. The special feature about it was that it attracted public attention only during special circumstances like scarcity and exigencies of supplies and high prices. Accordingly the growth of consumers’ cooperative has been restricted to emergencies and situations, such as, during World Wars and recently National Emergency in the wake of Chinese aggression. The famine conditions during the first World War (1918-19) resulted in the organisation of 29 consumers’ cooperative societies in the country. This number then increased to 88 by 1920-21, but as soon as the normal conditions returned, the number of cooperative stores shrank to 25 by 1936-37. The movement again received impetus during the scarcity period of World War II and the number of these stores increased to 396 in the year 1938-39 with a value of annual sales of nearly Rs. 57 lakhs, and approximately membership of 0.43 lakhs.