Harnessing the power of Synergy through Co-operative Entrepreneurship

The Bollywood blockbuster 0f 1960s Dilip Kumar starer movie Naya Daur (means New beginning) was a landmark movie of that period. The song Saathi Haath Badhana of Naya Daur was almost used like a National song in 60s.

Saathi haath badhaana, saathi haath badhaana

Ek akela thak jaayega mil kar bojh uthaana / Saathi haath badhaana

(Comrades, lend your hand! / Comrades, lend your hand!

One alone will tire soon, let us bear this burden together / Comrades, lend your hand!)

The word synergy means cooperation or working together. The song explains how we can foster synergy i.e. the combined working together of two or more parts of a system so that the combined effect is greater than the sum of the efforts of the part.

India has a rich history of co-operative movement. The co-operative is a form of organization in which persons voluntarily associate together on a basis of equality for the promotion of their economic interests. The co-operative movement has gone up from strength and today India has a strong movement catering to various sectors.

The philosophy of co-operation endeavours to empower isolated individuals who are individually weak , to come together in a democratic manner on the basis of equality to achieve the desired common economic interests.

Self Help group

SHGs are small informal associations created for the purpose of enabling members to

reap economic benefit out of mutual help, solidarity, and joint responsibility. The benefits

include mobilisation of savings and credit facilities and pursuit of group enterprise

activities. The group-based approach not only enables the poor to accumulate capital

by way of small savings but also helps them to get access to formal credit facilities. These groups by way of joint liability enable the poor to overcome the problem of collateral security and thus free them from the clutches of moneylenders.

The concept of self-help groups gained significance, especially after 1976 when Prof.

Mohammed Yunus of Bangladesh began experimenting with micro-credit and women SHGs. The strategy made a quiet revolution in Bangladesh in poverty eradication ‘by empowering the poor women’.

About 98 percent of the self help groups in Kerala are women groups. In some areas men groups and mixed groups also exist. There has also been an increase in the flow of funds for micro-enterprises through various promotional agencies. Though NGOs were the forerunners in this field, the early nineties marked a new era for micro-finance programmes in the State with the evolution of the Community Development Society (CDS) model women groups in Alappuzha. Further the setting up of Kudumbasree – the poverty eradication programme of the State Government – has given a boost to the SHG strategy.

Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation

Shyam Benegal the famous Director of Parallel cinema, he is known for his art films, which were far different from the norms of commercial cinema of India. Manthan (only film ever to be sponsored by Indian farmers.) came to the screen courtesy, the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation.

The Film Mantan is about the progress of a team which set out to start a milk co-operative in rural Gujarat. Led by a veterinary surgeon (a character based on the now-famous Dr Kurien), the milk co-operative’s workers soon find their path blocked by greedy middlemen intent on exploiting the villagers. Of course, as always, the good guys win but the movie is a poster child for the then dreamy-eyed co-operative movement and the solution it provided to all social ills.

In today’s world, when the co-operative movement is limping and increasingly losing to the corporatized retail sector, the story of how the milkmen of Gujarat organized themselves to set up the flagship co-operative seems almost nostalgic and poignant.

Lijjat Papad

Lijjat Papad, is an award winning company with an annual turnover of Rs 500 crore. It was Started by a group of seven lower-middle class women in Mumbai 50 years ago as their entrepreneurial effort. What started with just seven women on a loan of Rs 80 has grown into an enterprise owned by over 42,000 women spread across 72 centres around the country.

The hallmarks of Lijjat's success were stringent quality, consistency in taste and hygienic conditions for preparation of papads, which are traditional Indian meal starters made of lentil, chickpeas, black gram, salt and oil.

The India Coffee Houses

The first Indian Coffee Workers Co-Operative Society was founded in Bangalore on 19 August 1957 under the leadership of the communist leader A. K. Gopalan along with the thrown-out workers of the Coffee board. These workers then took over the branches and renamed the network as Indian Coffee House. Today there are 13 co-operative societies in the country to run the coffee houses. These societies are governed by managing committees elected from the employees.

Entrepreneurial Drive

The liberalization, which was started in 1991, and the Information Technology boom of the mid-late 90’s, has been significant factors, leading to a wave of entrepreneurship sweeping through the country.

Indians have entrepreneurial capacity. However the society and government are not very encouraging towards entrepreneurship. To a large extent, the Indian society is risk averse. People usually seek secure and long-term employment, such as government jobs. The physical infrastructure needs to be improved. Social Attitudes, lack of capital, inadequate physical infrastructure and lack of government support are major factors of hindrance.

In a tightening job market, Technopark, Trivandrum in association with Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR) , TechnoFIRST and Aircel is going an extra mile to encourage entrepreneurship among students in campus by offering mentoring services, space to work from and even seed capital through their ‘I am an Entrepreneur’ campaign. Many students feels that starting a venture on their own is a better option than waiting for a job to come.

So, if you are bitten by the entrepreneurial bug in college then it's time to stop making excuses and start making your campus dream true.