Cooperative Union
Origin:
The cooperative movement in Tamilnadu has grown and spread like a banyan tree and
taken deep roots and is closely linked with the day to day affairs of the people.
In order to help the growth of cooperatives and spread the knowledge of its
achievements among the people and shape their minds, 20 State Cooperative Unions
were established in the country.
Tamilnadu Cooperative Union is one among them. At present there are 32 State
Cooperative Unions.
Tamilnadu Cooperative Union was started on 4.1.1914. The first President of the
Tamilnadu Cooperative Union is Thiru.M.Adhinarayana Ayya.
Vision & Mission:
To Develop the Cooperative Movement.
To impart Cooperative Education and Training to Cooperators, employees and members
of Cooperative Societies and general public.
To arrange for meetings, seminars, conferences, discussions etc. in connection with the
Cooperative Movement.
To carry out publicity works through publishing magazines in English and Tamil.
To arrange for imparting training to the office bearers, employees and officers of the
Cooperative Societies.
To act as an Information and Public Relations agency for providing information on
Cooperative Movement.
To propagate the ideals of Cooperation through short films/slides, video tapes etc.
To give vide publicity about the policies, programme and achievements of cooperative
movement through posters, stickers, banners.
To maintain Cooperative Research and Development Fund and Cooperative Education
Fund.
To participate in Government exhibitions depicting the achievements of Cooperative
Movement on behalf of Department.
Administration :
The administration of the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Union is being manned by the
Additional Registrar of Cooperative Societies. From 11.04.2023, the Union is being
manned by Additional Registrar/Administrator.
Membership :
The Membership of Tamil Nadu Cooperative Union Consists 38 District Cooperative
Union and 17 Apex Cooperative Institutions
Apex institutions - 17
1. Tamil Nadu State Apex Cooperative Bank.
2. Tamil Nadu Cooperative Housing Federation.
3. Tamil Nadu Cooperative State Agriculture and Rural Development Bank.
4. Tamil Nadu Consumer Cooperative Federation.
5. Tamil Nadu State Federation of Urban Cooperative Banks.
6. Tamil Nadu Industrial Cooperative Bank.
7. Tamil Nadu Handlooms Weavers Cooperative Society. (Co – Optex)
8. Tamil Nadu Milk Producers Cooperative Federation.
9. Tamil Nadu Cooperative Marketing Federation.
10. Tamil Nadu Cooperative Textiles Processing Mill.
11. Tamil Nadu State Coir Cooperative Marketing Federation.
12. Tamil Nadu Cooperative Silk Producers Federation.
13. Tamil Nadu State Palmgur and Fibre Marketing Cooperative Federation.
14. Tamil Nadu Industrial Cooperative Rubberised Coir Products Society.
15. Tamil Nadu Cooperative Spinning Mills Federation.
16. Tamil Nadu State Apex Fisheries Cooperative Federation.
17. Tamil Nadu Cooperative Sugar Federation.
International Institutions:
International cooperative Alliance (ICA):
International cooperative Alliance was founded in London on 19 August 1895 during the 1st
Cooperative Congress.
Aim to provide information, define and defend the Cooperative Principles and develop
international trade.
The Rochdale Pioneers
The earliest record of a cooperative comes from Fenwick, Scotland where, in March 14, 1761,
in a barely furnished cottage local weavers manhandled a sack of oatmeal into John Walker's
whitewashed front room and began selling the contents at a discount, forming the Fenwick
Weavers' Society.
In 1844 a group of 28 artisans working in the cotton mills in the town of Rochdale, in the north
of England established the first modern cooperative business, the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers
Society, also known as the Rochdale Pioneers. They are regarded as the prototype of the
modern cooperative society and founders of the cooperative movement. The weavers in these
cotton mills in Rochdale faced miserable working conditions and low wages, and they could
not afford the high prices of food and household goods. They decided that by pooling their
scarce resources and working together they could access basic goods at a lower price. Initially,
there were only four items for sale: flour, oatmeal, sugar, and butter.
The Pioneers decided it was time shoppers were treated with honesty, openness, and respect,
that they should be able to share in the profits that their custom contributed to, and that they
should have a democratic right to have a say in the business. Every customer of the shop
became a member and so had a true stake in the business. At first, the cooperative was open for
only two nights a week, but within three months, the business had grown so much that it was
open five days a week.
An independently formulated cooperative model was developed in Germany by Friedrich
Wilhelm Raiffeisen and Franz Hermann Schultz-Delitsch. Raiffeisen and Schultz-
Delitsch originally formed credit unions in 1862. Since then the model has grown into other
sectors and inspired the growth of financial cooperatives across the world.
Network for the Development of Agricultural Cooperatives in Asia and
the Pacific (NEDAC):
It is a unique regional forum linking 21 apex cooperative organizations in 12 countries. It was
set up in 1991 by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s Regional
Office for Asia and the Pacific, the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and
the International Labour Organization (ILO) on the recommendation of the 1990 ICA regional
conference of cooperative ministers.
NEDAC sensitizes governments in the region to the need for a key role for agricultural
cooperatives in promoting agricultural and rural development to ensure rural food and
livelihood security for hundreds of millions of people in Asia and the Pacific.
International Raiffeisen Union (IRU):
International Raiffeisen Union (IRU) is a worldwide voluntary association of national co-
operative organizations which work and ideas are based on Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen’s
principles – i.e. self-help, self-responsibility and self-administration. IRU was founded in 1968
as registered association in Neuwied/Rhine on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of
Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen’s birth and has today 50 members in 33 countries.
The diffusion of Raiffeisen’s idea is worldwide. More than 900,000 co-operatives with approx.
800 million members in over 100 countries are working according to Friedrich Wilhelm
Raiffeisen’s principles.
RU has the purpose of cultivating Raiffeisen’s ideas, propagating them openly and before all
bringing about the exchange of experiences between member organizations.
