TWO COOPERATIVES, MADHYA PRADESH

Kesla block, Hoshangabad district in Madhya Pradesh could well qualify as a hotbed of cooperation, at least, of co-operatives. Here we saw two quite different styles of co-operative organisations, quite different from the ‘Anand-pattern’ cooperatives.

The older of the two, Tawa Matsya Sangh (TMS), deals with fish. It is registered under the old co-operative Act of the State, which means it is under the mercy of the State Cooperative department. It has a strong governance mechanism that requires members to take decisions.

The other, Kesla Poultry Samiti (KPS), deals with broiler chicken. It is a new generation cooperative, under the self-supporting cooperatives Act. It is also a member controlled entity, but managed by ‘professionals’.

Fishing in troubled waters

Sometime in the 1970’s a dam was planned to be built across the river Tawa. This dam, completed sometime in the 1990’s displaced around 36 villages. Most of the displaced families were adivasis. The displaced families, who received meagre compensation, resettled themselves around their old villages, on the banks of the Tawa reservoir. The dam also resulted in the creation of a large reservoir, a good source for captive fisheries and income for poor people. The government had other ideas; it leased the fishing rights to a private contractor.

After a series of agitations, the government finally acceded fishing rights to the displaced families who, by now had organised themselves into village level fisheries cooperatives. These village level cooperative societies were federated at the block level to form Tawa Matsya Sangh.

Counting chickens after they hatch

KPS is a co-operative of poultry farmers in Kesla block. KPS owes its origin to PRADAN (Professional Assistance for Development Action) a non-governmental organisation that has been working in the area since the mid-eighties. PRADAN identified small-scale broiler poultry as a feasible income generating activity suitable for the area. In a pioneering effort, village men and women were trained in the intricacies of poultry management, necessary support infrastructure built up and market linkages established. Initially, marketing of the produce was done by PRADAN. As the activity grew to cover a larger number of producers, a collective was established, which eventually became the Kesla Poultry Samiti.

Shades of co-operation – Fish vs. Chicken

One day in July 2005, we made short visits to both TMS and KPS. Their main offices are about seven kilometres apart. However, at a different level, that of mutual understanding, they seemed leagues apart. We tried to elicit from functionaries of both cooperatives, what they thought of the other. This is what we heard.

“TMS is good, but they are not efficient. They have very little understanding of the market”.

“The Poultry society does good work, but the members hardly have any information about what happens in the society. They are not transparent”.

The Statistics

We should have pitted these two statements against each other, but not expecting (right or wrong) introspective responses from either party, refrained from doing that. We chose to leave the difficult terrain of efficiency and transparency and looked at some numbers. We were able to readily obtain copies of annual reports of TMS for several years. Those from KPS were not readily available; we are still waiting for them to reach us. What we did get, enabling a quick comparison, was relevant figures for the year 2004-05. A summary of comparable information we have is in the table below.

Tawa Matsya Sangh
Membership
Coops 40
Persons 1,500
Active Members 484

Production (Sales)
Quantity (tons) 382.00
Value (Rs. Millions) 13.13

Net Profit to Cooperative (Rs. Millions) 0.05
Primary producers’ earnings (Rs. Millions) 6.28

Kesla Poultry Samiti
Membership
Coops -
Persons 285
Active Members 252

Production (Sales)
Quantity (tons) 656.00
Value (Rs. Millions) 26.00

Net Profit to Cooperative (Rs. Millions) Not Available
Primary producers’ earnings (Rs. Millions) 2.11

(Sources: Annual report of TMS 2004-05 & Data provided by Dr. H K Deka, KPS)

TMS claims that each of its active members earns an average daily income of Rs.102 from fishing. This includes the remuneration for fish sold to the Society (Rs.16.44 per kg during 2004-05) and bonuses paid from the profits of TMS. As per figures available, the average daily income has increased 53% in seven years, from the Rs.66.56 in 1997-98.

KPS’ figures indicate that 43 (17%) active members earned annual income in excess of Rs.12000, while 147 (58%) earned between Rs.6000 and 12000. Quick calculations from figures available for both cooperatives show that the average income earned by active members in a twelve-month period is Rs.12.975 in case of TMS and Rs.8,373 for KPS.

Both the entities provide several occupation-specific support services to the primary producers. In case of TMS this is in the form of re-stocking of the reservoir with fingerlings, support for buying fishing nets and lines, facilitation of a Central government scheme that links individual savings of fishermen to compensation for meeting expenses during the non-fishing season (June 15 to August 15). KPS supplies feed and medicines and services of trained veterinary workers who take care of poultry health care. The work of KPS is closely linked to the SHG programme of PRADAN and members thus have access to a host of services from PRADAN.

Future Tense

Both TMS and KPS face several challenges in the days ahead.

TMS’ existence in contingent upon it obtaining the fishing rights in the Tawa reservoir every five years. This is easier said than done. The vested interests, that have always tried to prevent the people from getting what is rightfully theirs, are still active. Added to this is the new situation rendered by the Bori Tiger Sanctuary. Part of the Tawa reservoir is within this sanctuary and the forest department has been citing extant wildlife statutes to prevent any fishing activity in those waters. An additional concern is that many of the villagers who are members of the fisheries cooperative are facing eviction once more, this time from the sanctuary where they presently reside. TMS has a long history of agitations, struggles and confrontation with the administration behind it. There is very little love lost for TMS in the administrative circles. With the current lease expiring in early 2006, days ahead are bound to bring in more agitations and confrontations.

KPS faces challenges of a different nature. As long as PRADAN is around, KPS has little to worry about. There are indications that controls are being handed over gradually to the owners by PRADAN. However, inspite of the levels of demystification, it is acknowledged that management of KPS will need a certain amount of skill, abilities and support from outside. Will the form of KPS enable primary producers to exercise their ownership rights? How and when KPS will chart a course for itself, independent of PRADAN is not certain as yet, though there is a stated intent to do so. PRADAN has consciously promoted women as primary producers, and they are de jure owners of KPS. All intermediaries – service providers, marketing agents and managers in KPS office are men. This could be a potential arena of conflict as well.

It would be interesting to go back to Kesla in a year or two and look again at the shades of cooperation there.