Maya ropes in co-ops for Dalit uplift

Without any fanfare,the Uttar Pradesh government has taken an initiative to empower Dalits in rural areas through co-operatives....

Without any fanfare,the Uttar Pradesh government has taken an initiative to empower Dalits in rural areas through co-operatives. It is inducting Dalits in primary agriculture co-operative societies across the state by paying their share of money,and then training them to run these bodies.

The government has released Rs 40 lakh to make people from SC/ST communities members of the cooperative bodies in the current financial year, said Amal Kumar Verma,Principal Secretary of the Cooperative Department. Already,33,507 people have been inducted in co-operatives,he added.

Uttar Pradesh has more than 7,000 primary agricultural co-operative societies PACS and the government has fixed targets for the induction of SC/ST members in all the districts. The main work of PACS is giving farm loans to their members.

The practice of the government paying for the membership to SCs/STs in co-operatives has existed for long,but past governments spent very small amounts for this purpose,said an official. The Mayawati government has given a new thrust to the practice and never before was so much money spent in a year for this purpose,the official added.

This is the first time that SC/ST members of PACS are being imparted training by the government. About Rs 40 lakh has been allocated for training of the SCs/STs members this year. Last year also,Rs 50 lakh was spent, said an official. Two blocks have been identified in every district to organise training camps.

Any villager can get membership of the village PACS by purchasing a share which costs Rs 20. Against one share,a member can take a loan of Rs 100 for agriculture purposes. The government is buying five shares for each SC/ST member being inducted in PACS. If the member wants,he can buy more shares and become entitled to get a proportionately higher loan,an official explained.

But that is only one benefit. The membership of a PACS makes every SC/ST member a voter in co-operative election,which,in turn,will also make him eligible to contest co-operative elections.

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This is one step in political empowerment of the Dalits at the grassroots level, said an official,adding,While ownership of land is necessary for getting a farm loan,this is not necessary for contesting an election.

By contesting election,a member can move up the chain of the co-operative structure,from village,to block,to district and then the state level.

Although cooperative bodies are independent units at every level,the UP Co-operative Bank has a share-holding in several co-operative bodies. The PACS is like a centre of primary education in cooperatives, said an official.

The material for the development of leaderships among the PACS members of SC/ST community,members of management committees and elected members has been prepared by the UP Cooperative Union. It contains information about the functioning of the cooperative bodies at the grassroots level.