
UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN 68TH EDITION (UNCSW68) VIRTUAL PARALLEL EVENT, NEW YORK
Title: “Thriving Together: Empowering Women Cooperatives”
“The importance of cooperatives for rural women – Policy mechanisms with international views and the practical experience in India”
Dong Hwa Campus Credit Union, Eastern Taiwan
Date: 15TH MAR 2024 & Time: 17:30 to 19:30
On the subject of the “Importance of Cooperatives for Rural Women in India and Experience Sharing of Indian Cooperative Network for Women (ICNW) Organizations”
It is indeed a great honor to present before you as Chairperson of the board of the Indian Cooperative Network for Women, Advisory Committee and President of the Working Women’s Forum (India) (WWF); Global Board member of the Worlds oldest Cooperative union the International Raiffeisen Union, Germany (re-elected women member in 100 years) and the coordinator of the WFO Working Groups on Cooperatives. It is an honour to share my experience and journeys to such a distinguished gathering at the UNCSW68, HQ parallel event from New York in Taiwan.
In the last 4 years we have organized or associated with 10 such global events. We thank the UNCSW profusely for the honour and Trust (as UN Consultative members of 28 years).
I especially thank the Dong Hwa University, Dong Hwa Credit Union Campus, Taiwan Mme.Liu for kindly asking me, us to render the keynote address.
The Working Women’s Forum (WWF) and Indian Cooperative Network for Women (ICNW), headquartered in Chennai, are leading the way in empowering poor women in the informal sector worldwide. With over 620,000 members across four states in South India namely Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana with branches in 14 locations. We are successfully marching towards half a century of service to these women through models.
I feel proud to share with you that our members are engaged in 267 occupations, including fish, flower, and vegetable selling, idli (rice cake) and snack shopkeeping, weaving, farming, lace artistry, hawking, and more. In services, trading, petty production and manufacturing. They represent a convergence of class, gender, and caste, making their social conditions untenable. But our grassroots women have demonstrated that they can cope and recover from any shock or disaster through our iconic “Gender and Equity model”.
Through this model, we have disbursed 500 crore rupees in petty loans (approximately 5 billion US$), with a high repayment rate. Our outcomes have been developed within the context of SDGs. Our members are not just surviving, but thriving, and they are leading the charge for gender equity and social justice.
I stand before you today with not only a message of hope and opportunity but also for cohesive collaboration in cooperative sectors between India and Taiwan. It is high time we work together for growth and prosperity with serious attention to greater gender equality. And Hong Kong stake holders too welcome at this event and global participants.

Women & Cooperatives
Through co-operatives, millions of women today in Asia/Pacific have access to social protection, housing, health and child care, financial services.
Cooperatives are democratic/voluntary – ideal mechanisms for building gender equality only when women have equal access including decision-making.
Cooperatives facilitate women’s mobilization – collective bargaining, productive assets (land, credit, labour, training, wages, technology, markets).
Gender is more than a statistic:
The pioneering ICPRD study of 26 countries on the Status of Women in co-operatives in the Asia-Pacific region that I conducted highlighted interesting data, facts and case studies. (2015 – 2017) (Presented to the ICAP cooperative ministers conference in Hanoi, recommending 33% reservation at all levels of cooperatives.
It mirrored the challenges and limitations of being Asia – Pacific women citizens, tempered by patriarchal tendencies.
Yet it highlighted strong women’s/social/people’s movements and engendered by far-reaching government policies and laws that spur women’s participation in co-operatives.
Especially, as Asia now seems to be world’s future economic epicenter.
OVERALL FINDINGS OF THE ASIA PACIFIC ICPRD STUDY OF 26 COUNTRIES
While women’s representation in co-operatives at higher echelons is not significant at decision making levels – new trends, decisions, issues indicate new threshold of change for women.Hardly 10% women on boards! Over a decade.
A Glimmer of hope can be attributed to the level of international awareness, conventions, gender networking in co-operatives and success of new age women-only co-operatives that are trendsetters, like the Indian Cooperative Network for Women (ICNW).Emerging leadership space in a structurally difficult and culturally complex scenario that has way forward with possibilities for women.Indian cooperative History & movementIndia, the land of diversity, culture, and innovation, has risen to become the fifth-largest economy in the world. We are heading towards making India a Developed country by 2047. A clarion call has been given by our Prime Minister to achieve the goal of ‘Viksit Bharat’ (Developed India) by 2047 when the country will be celebrating 100 years of Independence (India@100).Both India and Taiwan have strong economics. Taiwan has made significant investment in sectors such as electronics, manufacturing, and information technology in India. While Taiwanese companies have established a presence in India, contributing to economic growth and employment generation.
Culturally also, there have been exchanges between India and Taiwan, including academic collaborations, cultural performances, and people-to-people interactions. Now, we need to enhance our understanding and promote cooperatives with a great goal.TaiwanWe are well aware that Taiwan has a highly developed capitalist economy and is considered one of the Four Asian Tigers along with Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea. The government plays a significant role in economic planning and development through policies that encourage innovation, entrepreneurship, and trade.
Cooperative societies, also known as cooperatives, play a role in various sectors of Taiwan’s economy. Cooperatives exist in agriculture, consumer goods, finance, and other industries. These cooperatives are typically formed by individuals or businesses with similar interests or goals to pool resources, share risks, and collectively pursue economic activities.
They often emphasize principles such as democratic control, voluntary membership, and equitable distribution of profits among members.Taiwan has made significant progress in promoting gender equality and empowering women in various spheres of society. Women in Taiwan have access to education and employment opportunities on par with men. The government has implemented policies to support women’s participation in the workforce, including maternity leave, childcare support, and anti-discrimination laws. Despite these advancements, challenges such as gender pay gaps and underrepresentation in leadership positions persist, reflecting broader societal norms and cultural expectations.In the cooperative sector, India and Taiwan can collaborate to make efforts to address these issues and promote greater gender equality in Taiwan.Let me outline some salient features of India’s cooperative movement.
OVERALL FINDINGS OF THE ASIA PACIFIC ICPRD STUDY OF 26 COUNTRIES
While women’s representation in co-operatives at higher echelons is not significant at decision making levels – new trends, decisions, issues indicate new threshold of change for women.
Hardly 10% women on boards! Over a decade.
A Glimmer of hope can be attributed to the level of international awareness, conventions, gender networking in co-operatives and success of new age women-only co-operatives that are trendsetters, like the Indian Cooperative Network for Women (ICNW).
Emerging leadership space in a structurally difficult and culturally complex scenario that has way forward with possibilities for women.
Indian cooperative History & movement
India, the land of diversity, culture, and innovation, has risen to become the fifth-largest economy in the world. We are heading towards making India a Developed country by 2047. A clarion call has been given by our Prime Minister to achieve the goal of ‘Viksit Bharat’ (Developed India) by 2047 when the country will be celebrating 100 years of Independence (India@100).
Both India and Taiwan have strong economics. Taiwan has made significant investment in sectors such as electronics, manufacturing, and information technology in India. While Taiwanese companies have established a presence in India, contributing to economic growth and employment generation. Culturally also, there have been exchanges between India and Taiwan, including academic collaborations, cultural performances, and people-to-people interactions. Now, we need to enhance our understanding and promote cooperatives with a great goal.
Taiwan
We are well aware that Taiwan has a highly developed capitalist economy and is considered one of the Four Asian Tigers along with Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea. The government plays a significant role in economic planning and development through policies that encourage innovation, entrepreneurship, and trade. Cooperative societies, also known as cooperatives, play a role in various sectors of Taiwan’s economy.
Cooperatives exist in agriculture, consumer goods, finance, and other industries. These cooperatives are typically formed by individuals or businesses with similar interests or goals to pool resources, share risks, and collectively pursue economic activities. They often emphasize principles such as democratic control, voluntary membership, and equitable distribution of profits among members.
Taiwan has made significant progress in promoting gender equality and empowering women in various spheres of society. Women in Taiwan have access to education and employment opportunities on par with men. The government has implemented policies to support women’s participation in the workforce, including maternity leave, childcare support, and anti-discrimination laws. Despite these advancements, challenges such as gender pay gaps and underrepresentation in leadership positions persist, reflecting broader societal norms and cultural expectations.
In the cooperative sector, India and Taiwan can collaborate to make efforts to address these issues and promote greater gender equality in Taiwan.
Let me outline some salient features of India’s cooperative movement.
The genesis of India’s cooperative movement can be traced back to the early 20th century, influenced by the cooperative structures observed in England and Germany. The enactment of the Cooperative Credit Societies Act in 1904 marked a turning point, aiming to promote thrift habits among rural peasants and artisans. Since then, the movement has grown exponentially, with over 0.6 million individual cooperatives serving more than 240 million members across the country.
Introduction
In 1904 the first Cooperative Act came into force – a historic milestone for the Cooperative movement of India.
This Act encouraged thrift habits among poor peasants/artisans setting up cooperative societies, countering the role of exploitative money lenders.
In 1912 it was replaced by the Cooperative Societies Act.
India has largest Cooperative movement i.e., 0.6 million Cooperatives in the world.
Helps to generate self-employment to 17.80 million people. Covers 100% villages with 65% of households in India.
The whether Raiffeisen model of cooperatives – Father of Cooperative
At the heart of India’s cooperative system lies the influence of Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen, whose principles of self-help, self-governance, and self-responsibility (3 ‘S’ formula) have guided the movement.
Raiffeisen’s ideology of combating poverty through empowerment resonated strongly in India, where poverty and dependency were widespread. Hon. Raiffeisen ‘S’ formula became a cornerstone of Indian cooperatives, empowering individuals to take control of their economic destinies.
India’s adoption of Raiffeisen-type cooperatives set a precedent in the global cooperative movement, attracting attention and emulation worldwide. The cooperative system in India, built on principles of self-management and self-financing, served as a model for cooperative initiatives in other countries.
In 1912 the original act was replaced by the Co-operative Societies Act, India was aiming at societies dealing not only with credit but also with insurance and various specialized functions. Cooperative banks were established at several levels to provide liquidity exchange and refinancing services. Self-financing and self-governance supported the movement’s growth.
Indian freedom fighters
Freedom fighters Mahatma Gandhi, Shri.Vaikunth Mehta, later Shri.Imamdar advocacy for cooperative principles further propelled its significance in socio-economic development. Post-independence, the Indian government recognized cooperatives’ potential in rural development and poverty alleviation, leading to the formulation of various laws and policies to foster their growth across sectors like agriculture, dairy, fisheries, and handlooms. The Cooperative Societies Act of 1961 provided a comprehensive legal framework for their functioning, while institutions like the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and the National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) were established to promote cooperative development.
1975 Decade for Women
Since the emergence of the Worldwide Women’s Movement in 1975 several grassroots women’s initiatives/ co-operatives were initiated towards social change process. So, women too were able to actively participate in co-operatives, a concept that was almost rare until the 70s in India. In 1975, as a result of United Nations “the International Women’s Year”, world attention was focused on women, their challenges and obstacles to their progress. This brought about a change in attitude towards women on the part of Governments. International and other agencies including the co-operatives, which realized that unless women, who constitute half the world’s population, were drawn into the developmental programs, progress could not be fully achieved and national development targets could not be fully met.
Women’s cooperative societies and banks play a crucial role in promoting gender equality and women’s economic empowerment in India. These societies and banks, are governed entirely or partially by women i.e., women “only” or mixed societies, women aim to uplift women by providing financial assistance for entrepreneurial ventures in both urban and rural areas.
While attempts were made to address women’s credit needs through nationalized banks, women’s cooperatives banks have emerged as reliable financial institutions, overcoming initial skepticism the former were not mechanism to silent poor women in traditional cultures. These banks aim to encourage women’s entrepreneurship and creative endeavors, contributing to their economic autonomy and societal status.
Dawn of a New Era: New National Cooperation Policy: A Transformative Paradigm
In the 75th year of our Independence, a new Ministry of Cooperation has been set up to realize the vision of cooperatives as having immense potential to drive socio-economic developmental goals.
The establishment of the new Ministry of Cooperation by the Government marks a significant step towards strengthening and promoting the cooperative movement in India. With a rich cooperative heritage and a robust sector, this initiative aims to provide a dedicated administrative, legal, and policy framework to further elevate the cooperative sector’s role in the country’s socio-economic development. Governed by the respective State Cooperative Societies Act or the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act (MSCS), cooperatives play a vital role in various sectors across the nation.
Since its formation in July 2021, the Ministry of Cooperation has implemented numerous initiatives to enhance the ease of doing business for cooperatives and deepen their reach at the grassroots level.
These initiatives include the computerization of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS).
The development of model bylaws,
Facilitating PACS to function as Common Service Centers (CSCs).