The Political Economy of a Successful Cooperative Movement : A Kerala Experience

In the context of Beedi Industry showing negative growth, the cooperative initiated discussion on diversification in the mid-1996, and it opened up the food processing centre[r]

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Ashique Ali T | YSI Asia Convening, Vietnam National University in Hanoi, Vietnam

The Political Economy of a Successful Cooperative Movement : A Kerala Experience

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The Political Economy of a Successful Cooperative Movement : A Kerala Experience

Ashique Ali T, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University |Working Paper 1.0 Introduction

The emergence of cooperatives as an alternative model has a clear history The formation of Rochdale Pioneers in England during 1844 is understood in the context of rising unemployment, increasing food prices, massive poverty and deteriorating working conditions during the age of industrialization It is with the birth of capitalism, one can trace the enormous acceptance and experimentation of the idea of cooperatives The Rochdale Pioneers who were participants of Chartism, a working-class movement aimed at political reform in Britain during the 19th century was disillusioned with the failed attempts of political reform ultimately settled with cooperatives as a strategy for social transformation The Indian cooperative movement inaugurated by the British colonial government to safeguard the peasantry weakened by tragic famines and debilitated condition of agriculture, from the clutches of monstrous money lenders But compared to other states in India, cooperatives in Kerala are more developed, because of the “local tradition of public action, high density of grassroots social organizations” and due to the initiatives of union and state government1 For socialists in Congress party and Communists in Kerala, the vision about cooperatives underlined it as an instrument for social transformation.2 Even contemporary political Leaders in Kerala consider building

1 T.M Thomas Isaac and Michelle Williams, Building Alternatives: The Story of India’s Oldest Construction Workers’ Cooperative (New Delhi: LeftWord Books, 2017), 36

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cooperatives as an attempt to build small defensive networks to resist the ill effects of neoliberalism.3

In the context of high public action in Kerala, this paper enquires the following questions Whether the success of cooperative movements in Kerala is because of their political and social dimension? And does these political dimensions help the cooperative movement in Kerala to overcome various limitations like a) its inner contradiction while facing the competitive market b) Its self-exploitation of own labour c) low capital formation etc.?

2.0 Exploring the Case Studies

a) The Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS)

The history of renaissance in Malabar cannot omit the name of Vagbhatananda Born into an Ezhava family in 1884 in Thalassery (Kannur), Vagbhatananda was deeply inspired by the teachings of Sree Narayana Guru, an Ezhava social reformer and Siva Yogi who was informed by a rationalist outlook In 1917 he initiated Atma Vidhya Sangham (AVS) at Karakkad, Calicut The attempt was to popularise the notion of self-knowledge and create an organizational form for people from different castes and religion to unite on the very idea of universal brotherhood.4 He launched ruthless critique on feudal order and caste society and openly jettisoned idol worships in the temple and Brahmanical rituals As his organization Atma Vidhya Sangham was gaining currency, the agitated feudal upper-caste landlords launched a social boycott against his followers Work, the security of tenure and education was denied, and the members of Sangham faced immense hardship This was the fate of the Tiyya community in the caste society of Malabar

3 The statements of Chief Minister and Finance Minister of Kerala in,

Subin Dennis, “Book Launch- ‘Building Alternatives: The Story of India’s Oldest Construction Workers’ Cooperative’,” Left Word, April 4, 2018,

https://blog.leftword.com/book-launch-building-alternatives-the-story-of-indias-oldest-construction-workers-cooperative/

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It is in this context, Vagbhatananda suggested the formation of cooperative societies in Malabar The financial boycott on the members of Atma Vidhya Sangham was fought with the formation of Aikya Nanaya Sangham, a Credit Cooperative in 1924.5 The denial of work was met with the formation of Uralungal Koolivelakarude Paraspara Sahaya Yogam6 in 1925.7 It was this society, which was re-registered in 1967 as Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society under the leadership of Tiyya workers.8 The formation of Uralungal Koolivelakarude Paraspara Sahaya Yogam in 1925 contained fourteen-member director board, where except Vagbhatananda all were engaged in manual works like building cane fences, extracting fish oil, stone cutting etc 9 The membership of the organization was exclusive to the members from Uralungal village in Calicut, and the entry fees were charged at four annas10 (old currency unit used in India)

The initial period witnessed a lot of hardship, particularly due to the lack of capital, deficiency of capacity of the workers to undertake the work of Public Works Department and there was lack of support from the government as well To compete with private contractors were not easy, and they had to under quote their tenders submitted to the government to catch some work By sheer force of determination, the cooperative was earning reputation and building the capacity of its workers The initial credit required for the cooperative was made available by borrowing from the wealthy people from their locality It should be noted that till 1964, the secretary of Uralungal labour cooperative society was not even guaranteed of a regular salary.11 From 1927 to 1929, the company made no loss with a turnover of Rs 1,240.12 From 1929-31 the turnover was zero During 1931-32 the cooperative earned a turnover of Rs 167 and incurred a loss of Rs 14.13 The situation got bettered from the period of 1932-34 when the

5 Ibid., 62

6 Uralungal Wage Labours Mutual Aid and Cooperative Society 7 Kannan, “Social Reform in Twentieth Century Malabar,” 62 8 Ibid

9 Ibid.,79

10 One anna is equal to one sixth of Indian Rupee 11 Ibid., 80

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turnover was Rs 3,010, and this ensured a profit of Rs 204.14 But from 1934- 38, the cooperative faced a loss of Rs 473.15 From 1938-43 the company was successful in earning a net profit of Rs 1,264.16 From 1943 to 48, the cooperative again went into a massive loss of Rs 7,067.17 It was only in post-independent India the cooperative started to have a stable performance Baring a few private contracts, most of the deals committed was from local government The competition from private contractors, who could easily squeeze the labour, wages and engage in bribing the officials of local government and public work department was enormous Construction Cooperatives also faced the delayed payment from the government for its projects, which caused intense financial tensions It was by ensuring quality work at a low rate even by succumbing loses Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS) won the public trust

In 2018, after finishing the works of two major flyovers in Kozhikode which had a combined estimate of Rs 129 crore, the ULCCS completed the work at a rate less than the budgeted and gave back Rs 14 crore to the state government.18 Such gestures and the quality of work has ensured high public trust for the cooperative The Kerala state government has granted ULCCS the status of accredited agency and has exempted from going through the tender process In the villages of Calicut, opinion mobilization by the public to award development projects to ULCCS has become common, said Hameed, a political activist from Koolimad, Calicut.19

The first EMS Ministry took a landmark decision to promote cooperatives by initiating and entrusting labour contract society for implementing public works The government took measures to limit one labour contract society in a block Even during people's plan campaign

14 Ibid

15 Ibid 16 Ibid 17 Ibid

18 “Kerala: Labour cooperative returns Rs 14 cr saved from infra project to govt,” Development Channel, accessed July 20, 2019,

http://www.developmentchannel.org/2018/12/30/kerala-labour-cooperative-returns-rs-14-cr-saved-from-infra-project-to-govt/

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(1996-2001) for decentralization, priority was given to the labour contract societies.20 This has helped the growth of ULCCS In 1963-64, the government granted ULCCS with its first capital contribution of Rs 2000.21 If we look at the recent state support for ULCCS, one could see that both Communist and Congress government lent its helping hands In the year 2014 during Congress-led government, ULCCS received state support in the form of share worth Rs 79,03,950 through National Cooperative Development Council 22

From 2014- 18, ULCCS received zero assistance from the state, either in the form of direct state support.23 In 2018-19, through National Cooperative Development Council ULCCS has again received an amount of Rs 75,00,00,000 as loan and Rs 25,00,00,000 in the form of share.24 This is the period of the Communist government in Kerala It should be noted that in March 2018 ULCCS holds a paid-up share capital of 94.75 Crore and the Kerala State government contributed 85.84 Crore of it.25 This state support should be seen in the context of overall performance and economic activities of ULCCS From 2013-18, ULCCS has executed projects of value Rs 2,522.29 Crore and enjoyed a net profit of Rs 553.19 Lakhs (Rs 5.5319 crore)

The Value of Project Executed by ULCCS Net Profit of ULCCS

2013-14 Rs 261.29 Crore Rs 40.35 Lakhs

2014-15 Rs 324.59 Crore Rs 62.25 Lakhs

2015-16 Rs 522.09 Crore Rs 82.56 Lakhs

2016-17 Rs 621.04 Crore Rs 147.84 Lakhs

2017-18 Rs 793.28 Crore Rs 220.19 Lakhs

20 Isaac and Williams, Building Alternatives, 120

21 Project proposal for financial assistance for purchase and modernization of Stone Crusher unit under NCDC Sponsoring Scheme, Submitted through Department of Co-operative, Government of Kerala on 27 February 2019

22 Data received from Department of Co-operative, Government of Kerala Collected on 5th July 2019

23 In the form of Loan or Shares

24 Data received from Department of Co-operative, Government of Kerala

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Source : Project proposal for financial assistance for purchase and modernization of Stone Crusher unit under NCDC Sponsoring Scheme, Submitted by ULCCS through Department of Co-operative, Government of Kerala (2019)

The ULCCS employs about 9072 workers, of which 1981 workers are members26 and 7091 workers are non-members.27 Though the significant number of non-members is a matter of concern for abiding the spirit of cooperatives, there is no discrimination of wage benefits All enjoy Provident Fund, Employees' State Insurance, medical aid and allowance, dividend, bonus and gratuity Workers generally reside near their project area in hygienic conditions and a three-time quality meal is provided by the cooperative itself The efforts for diversification was fruitful and on 30th November 2011, as ULCCS registered the UL Technology Solutions in

Trivandrum under the companies act of 1956 This has a paid capital amount of Rs 4.49 crores.28 This company engages in domains like e-governance, utility management, health care,

transport and logistics, block chain, consultancy services, geospatial solutions, web and mobile application development etc On 20th January 2012, ULCCS opened its Cyber park in Calicut,

which is the first IT park being owned by a Cooperative in India ULCCS also runs Sargalaya, Kerala Arts and Crafts Village, a project committed for tourism and handicraft promotion in areas near by Vadakara, Calicut

b) Dinesh Beedi

The history of Dinesh Beedi marks the heroic resistance of the working class in Kerala against the exploitation and informalization of the labour market by capitalist firms Beedi (the poor man’s smoke) became one of the major economic activity in Malabar by the early 1920s Muslims made the significant contribution of entrepreneurship during this time, and their international ties helped the exports of Beedis to Ceylon and Burma (Sri Lanka and Myanmar

26 There are 479 A Class members and 1502 C class members C class memberships are open for all non-regular workers who are employed in ULCCS for at least a minimum of one year B class membership is given for government shares

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respectively).29 Muslims were the second largest workforce in the Beedi Industry after Tiyyas (a lower caste community in Kerala) During the independence movement, Beedi became an alternative to the boycott of imported cigarettes and enjoyed a flourishing market Compared to Mangalore, the wages in Kannur, Northern Malabar were lower and hence witnessed the opening of many Mangalore based Beedi Companies Ganesh Beedi (1942), Great Darbar Beedi (1943) and PVS Beedi (1948) ensured their operational base in Kannur.30 Another Major Brand which was functioning in Kannur was Bharat Beedi But in the late 1940s the trade union movement in Malabar was getting highly militant Backed by Communists, in the year 1946, Kannur witnessed a series of protracted struggles by Beedi workers Deeply disturbed by the intensified working class movement, the goons of major Beedi companies initiated attack on protesting workers In response this, in one instance the angry protesters even burned downed the Ganesh Beedi factory.31 The Beedi workers were the most militant and politically conscious workforce and have made significant contributions to the Nationalist Movement in Malabar

The increasing labour militancy was met with the informalization of the work process Ganesh Beedi adopted the technique of shifting their work base from factories to the home base production units Sadhoo Beedi first experimented the method of informalizing work process in 1950, and other private Beedi companies followed this method.32 The working class movement though tried for deliberations, was not in any mood of compromising the workers interests A K Gopalan, one of the prominent communist leader in Kerala took this issue to Indian Parliament He was exploring the possibilities of private members bill on the Beedi and Cigar Workers But his deliberations with the Union government ensured a government bill instead of private member bill On 1966, the Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act was passed in Indian parliament which had clear provisions for minimum wages, provident fund, maternity benefits, gratuity, medical allowance etc But the scope of implementations was left to individual states

29 T M Thomas Isaac, Richard W Franke, and Pyaralal Raghavan, Democracy at Work in an Indian Industrial Cooperative: The Story of Kerala Dinesh Beedi (London : Cornell University Press, 1998), 23

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In 1967 the second E.M.S ministry in Kerala was sworn into power Within a year, the Communist government in Kerala became the first state in India to implement the Beedi and Cigar Act As a response to this, the major beedi companies like Ganesh Beedi, Bharat Beedi and P.V.S Beedi suddenly ended its production, leaving the mass of workers into overnight unemployment As a political response, under the leadership of the T.V Thomas, the Industrial Minister, senior civil service officials camped in Kannur for months to institute Kerala Dinesh Beedi.33 This was following the Cabinet decision taken by the left government on 18 December 1968.34 Kerala Dinesh Beedi Workers Cooperative Society contained one apex central society and twelve primaries and it became functional on 15th February 1969.35 The society was imitated with 2500 beedi workers, each having a share value of Rs 20 The impoverished workers were helped by the state government by offering a loan of Rs 19 for each of their share and Rs 1.35 Million and Rs 0.71 million was granted as share capital and working capital respectively for the central society of Kerala Dinesh Beedi.36 The initial trouble to run the Beedi industry was solved by appointing a government civil servant as Chairman and Secretary of the society The board of directors contained a representative from the finance department of Kerala and five workers representatives belonging to different political parties.37 The Government appointed the Director board till 1986 38 and the workers gradually took over the complete control over the cooperative The initial diversity of trade unions appointed by the government to ensure the absence of any political opposition to the project was a pragmatic move and gradually the director board reflected the organizations which had strength among the workers.39 Currently, the director board of Dinesh Beedi is majorly occupied by members

33 K Prabhakaran, Secretary of Kerala Dinesh, Interviewed by author, February 15, 2019 34 Isaac, Franke and Raghavan Democracy at Work in an Indian Industrial Cooperative, 67 35 Ibid

36 Ibid., 68 37 Ibid., 70 38 Ibid., 72

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of Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist party of India However, before making any major policy decisions, the director board still calls for an all-party meeting where the representation of different trade unions is ensured.40 This conscious attempt to build consensus among various trade unions has ensured Dinesh Beedi, a smooth functioning

The naming of Dinesh Beedi was an attempt to dupe the name of Ganesh Beedi, one of the major private beedi company which was behind the misery of workers Shifting the brand loyalty of smokers was difficult But the commitment of workers and trade unions ensured the market success of Dinesh Beedi The Communist leaders like E.K Nayanar, who was one of the Chief Minister of Kerala attempted a conscious marketing of this cooperative by smoking Dinesh Beedi openly in large public meetings and gatherings.41 The history and commitment of workers of Dinesh Beedi was often mentioned by working-class leaders during their speeches as well The Cooperative also enjoyed public sympathy and solidarity Choosing Dinesh Beedi became a conscious political choice of consumers The uncompromising commitment to the quality of the product helped Dinesh Beedi stabilize its Market In the early 1980's the turnover of Dinesh Beedi crossed Rs 120 crores, and the cooperative was in a position to employ 42,000 workers.42 But by 1993 the cooperative marked its phase of decline The anti-tobacco campaigns and increasing health consciousness of the highly literate public in Kerala, the prevalence of low-quality counterfeit Dinesh beedi in the market, the emergence of new local beedis and high purchasing power of the population and their shift to cigarettes are some of the reasons behind this decline In 2003, India passed the COTPA Act43, which prohibited direct and indirect adverting and promotion of tobacco products By the late 1980s gulf migration in search of work was becoming rampant The option of better paid skilled jobs

chairman and the General manager of District industries centre These two nominated positions are written into the bylaw of the cooperative due to the government investment received by the cooperative in the beginning But the functioning and control of cooperatives are strictly under the supervision of workers

40 K Prabhakaran, Secretary of Kerala Dinesh, Interviewed by author, February 15, 2019 41 Ibid

42 Ibid

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was also becoming attractive By 1995, 60 per cent of the workforce in Beedi industry were women.44 Today around 99 percentage of the Beedi workforce is women.45

In the context of Beedi Industry showing negative growth, the cooperative initiated discussion on diversification in the mid-1996, and it opened up the food processing centre in 1998 to rehabilitate some of the beedi workers The year 2000 witnessed the launching of Dinesh Umbrella division By 2001 Dinesh auditorium started its functioning in Kannur city The Dinesh IT park was also a bold initiative In 2007, Dinesh Apparels was also established by the apex society The Kerala Dinesh Beedi Workers Cooperative Society is now a dynamic cooperative enterprise of manufacturing The food processing unit manufactures a variety of products Curry powder, pickles, quashes, coconut milk, coconut oil are some of it The apparels unit is known for producing export-oriented garments like cotton, denim, synthetic and silk shirts It has found its market in the United Arab Emirates, United States of America and parts of Europe Dinesh Umbrellas are known for its quality and low prices Dinesh Auditorium complex has a capacity of thousand seats and contains even video conferencing halls Dinesh Information Technology Systems is ensuring merchandise software, core banking software to various cooperative banks It has also stepped into IT training and processing ATM networks for co-operative banks

The most crucial feature of Kerala Dinesh Beedi Workers Cooperative Society is that it ensures workers a fair wage and additional benefits like Sunday wage, holiday wage, earned wage, gratuity, dearness allowance and bonuses to all workers It provides a hygienic working environment and protects the workers' interests The engagement of Kerala Dinesh in manufacturing various commodities also helps in stabilizing the market price of different commodities The employees of the diversified projects of Dinesh are old beedi workers and their dependents

The support given by state and trade unions without any doubt is remarkable for its success In the last five years, Dinesh has not taken any financial assistance from the Cooperative

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department of Government of Kerala.46 Importantly, the cooperative does not enjoy a level playing field with other private competitors If the former strictly protects the worker's interests, the latter engages in fraudulent techniques to bypass taxes, squeeze labour and its wages Kerala Dinesh Beedi Workers Cooperative Society from its different divisions enjoys an annual sales turnover of Rs 73 crore 47

c) Brahmagiri Development Society

The cultivation of export-oriented cash crops like coffee, tea, coconut, pepper, cardamom, areca nut and rubber accounted for 60 per cent of gross cropped area in Kerala.48 It was these cash crops with a higher export intensity, which experienced heightened fluctuations in price after India widely opening up to the global economy through neoliberal reforms.49 The price of pepper and coffee, which was extensively cultivated in Wayanad marked a sharp decline in price by 69% and 59% respectively during the period of 1997-8 to 2003-4.50 The trauma of price crash for farm products incapacitated the farmers to repay the advances taken from money lenders Many farmers lost their valuable land in debt trap and living became extremely miserable The agrarian distress in Wayanad got worsened with the prevalent reach of drought

46 Anil, Assistant Registrar at Department of Co-operation, Interviewed by author, Government of Kerala, July 5, 2019, Trivandrum

47 The annual turnover of Dinesh from food processing units is Rs 4.35 crore The umbrella unit enjoys a turnover of Rs 2.68 crore The Dinesh IT and Dinesh auditorium earns a turnover of Rs Crore and Rs crore respectively The apparels unit brings revenue of Rs 4.89 crore Rest of the income is from Beedi Industry, packing units, mini supermarkets, factory outlets and various diversification projects of primary societies like Café Dinesh restaurants, Catering units etc The data is obtained from the Central Society of Kerala Dinesh Beedi Workers Cooperative Society on February 15, 2019 at Kannur

48 S Mohanakumar, and R K Sharma, “Analysis of Farmer Suicides in Kerala,” Economic and Political Weekly 41, no 16 (2006): 1553

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conditions and with the mutiny of crop diseases.51 The grief and hardship of framers increased the death tolls of farmers suicide in Wayanad Between 1997 – 2005, Wayanad witnessed 10,364 farmers suicide.52

In this context of deepening agrarian crisis and farmers suicide, Varghese Vaidyar the MLA of Sulthan Bathery took the initiative for a meeting with elected representatives of various panchayats in Wayanad Varghese Vaidyar, a committed activist of the communist party of India (Marxist), had enough experience of working amongst the farmers and agricultural workers in Wayanad With the help of his party and other civil society activists, he was successful in rallying a dedicated team of volunteers to attend the opinions and knowledge of rural Wayanad for planning and designing an appropriate project to overcome the agrarian distress.53 The outcome of this hardship got materialized in the form of Brahmagiri Dairy Project report, which was presented by Varghese Vaidyar in Kerala Legislative Assembly On 3rd November 1998, in a meeting chaired by the then Finance Minister T Sivadasa Menon with the relevant stakeholders, the discussions about Brahmagiri Dairy Project was done and dusted The Agriculture (Dairy) Department issued an administrative sanction for this project on 31st March 1999.54 The Societies Registration Act of 1860 defined the establishment of the Brahmagiri Development Society with the aim of dairying, establishing a modern slaughterhouse with a meat processing unit and engaging in other socio-economic activities.55

51 Jose George and P Krishnaprasad, “Agrarian Distress and Farmers' Suicides in the Tribal District of Wayanad,” Social Scientist 34, no 7/8 (2006): 76

52 Sumant Badami, “Suicide as a Counter-Narrative in Wayanad, Southern India: The Invisible Death,” South Asia Research 34, no (July 2014): 93

53 They adopted the participatory rural appraisal techniques

54 Government Order, G.O (Ms) No 97/99/AD issued on 31/3/1999

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For initiating this project, the Government offered Rs 25 lakhs in the Budget speech of 1988-99.56

Brahmagiri Development society is the result of a political initiative and commitment to experiment an alternative for the farmers and agricultural workers in the exalted period of neoliberal economic crisis The underlying spirit of cooperation has earned success Today Brahmagiri Development Society (BDS) carries a membership of 12374 individual members and 27 institutions members And 19% of the individual members belong to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe community.57 Brahmagiri Development Society aims to modernize the agriculture by developing “agro related industries and market network under the collective ownership of peasant and workers and thus eliminate exploitation of large capital and its intermediaries”.58 By inculcating the techniques of farm planning, Brahmagiri Development Society is demonstrating the spirit of modern cooperative farming, where the surplus generated through various endeavours is distributed back to the workers and peasants in the form of a higher price for farm products and higher wages

Brahmagiri Development Society is engaging in the procurement of poultry and livestock from farmers at a fair price and is marketed mainly as frozen meat It ensures value addition to the farmers’ income by successfully selling value added products like Chicken and Beef Cutlet, Chicken and Beef Pickle, Dried meat, Beef patties, Chicken nuggets, Sausage, Meet wafers etc In 2017-18, monthly procurement of poultry and live stocks was 8233 and 136 respectively The Malabar Meat division of BDS was successful in generating 3,03,000 Kg of meat products in a year and deserve a turnover of Rs11.18 crore Brahmagiri Development Society traded 9071.85 kg of biofertilizers in the same year.59 The grants ensured by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) helped BDS to initiate projects of

56 Government Order, G.O (Ms) No 97/99/AD issued on 31/3/1999

57 General Body Report of 2017-18, Brahmagiri Development Society, Wayanad (BDS) 58 The brochure of Peasant and Worker Social Development Fund, Brahmagiri Development Society, 2019

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building 14 polytunnel and 20 rain shelters for farmers from 2017 to 18.60 BDS also engages in the trading of Azolla, a floating fern which is a cheap and highly nutritious organic feed substitute for dairy cattle Apart from cultivating paddy in 197 acres, BDS procures 30,000 Kilograms of paddy at a higher procurement price and is marketed as Brahmagiri Waynandan Matta.61 By procuring organic farm products from farmers and Pollytunnels,62 BDS obtain a sale of Rs 1,86,059 per year.63 From the 9.75 acres of grass farming BDS was able to collect a revenue of Rs 12,74,640 in 2017-18

BDS sells Vegetable seeds and seedlings at Rs 1, while the market rate is around Rs 8-12.64 In 2018-19, 2.5 Lakh vegetable seedlings were sold to Poothadi Grama Panchayath, 1,66,670 seedlings to Thirunelly Grama Panchayat and 87667 seedlings to Vengapally Panchayat In the same year, Kudumbashree mission65 of Wayanad district provided an order of 60,000 vegetable seed kits to Brahmagiri, which generated an additional 557 working days in BDS This explains how BDS can capture a substantial amount of sales from Local Self Governments and Various State Government Initiatives State assistance is one of the reasons behind the success of BDS

In the 2018-19 Budget, Kerala Government announced Rs 20 crore for ensuring self-sufficiency in meat production, promoting poultry farming and mobilizing small scale meat retailers through a project called Kerala Chicken BDS is one of the major nodal agency for implementing this project The close associations between cooperatives and state government yield welfare to farmers and the general public as well Due to the government subsidy of Rs per farm chicks in Kerala Chicken Project, profit margin of poultry farmers has witnessed a hike If the market rate of live chicken meat is around Rs 180-210, Brahmagiri Kerala Chicken is sold to the public at Rs140-155

60 Ibid.,

61 Rs 25 per Kilogram

62 6707.5 Kg of Organic farm products were procured by BDS in 2017-18

63 General Body Report of 2017-18, Brahmagiri Development Society, Wayanad (BDS), 64 Customers of BDS, February 15, 2019, Wayanad

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By mobilizing the farmers and agricultural workers into the domains of production, procurement, processing of farm products into value-added products and marketing, Brahmagiri Development Society has not only challenged the exploitative chain of powerful intermediaries and corporates, but has helped transform the agricultural worker from a low income daily wage earner into a modern farmer with stable monthly income By uniting the peasants and workers under the logic of cooperation, active resistance against pauperization is undertaken Brahmagiri has also experimented a unique way of capital mobilization in Kerala By inviting the general public for becoming the members of BDS, chances of investment in the form of Peasant and Workers Social Development Fund (PWSDF) is opened Investment in PWSDF guarantees a higher interest rate of 9.5% to 11% This has become the backbone of Brahmagiri’s Surplus sharing system Most importantly, nowhere in any documents of Brahmagiri Development Society, the word ‘Profit’ is uttered This is a conscious omission according to the Chief Executive Officer T B Suresh, who is a trade unionist.66

The ideological orientation and experiments upon the spirit of cooperation in Brahmagiri have demonstrated how agriculture can be a reliable option even in the times of heightened agrarian crisis BDS has contributed to modernizing the agricultural industry and has developed a modern agricultural working class in Rural Wayanad

3.0 Making the Case of Successful Cooperative Movement in Kerala

This study has traced the trajectories of three different cooperatives in Kerala, which are contextualised in three different points of time The formation of the Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS) was in 1925, and it emerged out of a strong anti-caste social reform movement in pre-independent India The formation of Kerala Dinesh Beedi Workers Cooperative Society in 1969 traces the working-class resistance in Kerala against the exploitation and informalization of the labour market by capitalist firms This was during the Keynesian age, where Nehruvian development model was followed in India where the state had a significant role to play in the economy The formation of Brahmagiri Development Society is as a response to the agrarian crisis in the neoliberal era What is common about all

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three is that their emergence is strongly linked with the working-class resistance or social reform movement All the three cooperatives are the result of efforts from below, which was strongly supported by the state government in Kerala State played an active role in setting up the Kerala Dinesh Beedi Workers Cooperative Society by even providing the initial capital for forming it The formation of Kerala Dinesh was the extension of a vibrant working-class movement in Northern Malabar now fulfilled by the Communist government in Kerala Here the state becomes a tool for a working-class movement to bestow the state privileges upon them ULCCS during the period of anti-colonial struggle survived on edge by immense dedication, hard work and commitment from its founders In Independent India, state support helped its stability and growth of it into a large cooperative Both the left and centrist governments in Kerala was empathetic to the efforts of ULCCS, while the former being passionately helping its growth Even in the formation of Brahmagiri Development Society, the active role of communist in Kerala can be seen Even the current leadership of Brahmagiri is reaped from the All India Kisan Sabha and Communist Party of India (Marxist)

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as well Even if the communists have a high grip over the cooperative institutions, in the broader political context of a high density of different trade unions, the local context of high public action and due to the presence of strict labour laws, the possibility of cooperatives self-exploitation of own labour is minimal in Kerala This paper argues that the challenge of low capital formation, self-exploitation of own labour can be overcome in the presence and patronage of an active trade union movement and vibrant political culture of a multi-party system It should be noted that the relatively strict implementation of labour laws in Kerala is also due to the history of class struggles and high public actions in Kerala Therefore trade union movements in Kerala positively affects the growth of Cooperatives and in fact, makes a virtuous contribution

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IT parks, educational cooperatives, printing cooperatives, transgenders cooperatives etc and many more There is hardly any part of the economic activity, which is not captured by cooperative movement The total number of working societies is about 15,624 in Kerala

When the tentacles of neoliberalism are holding the states tight to cut short the welfare budget, a vibrant cooperative movement presents an active resistance against neo-liberalism In 2018 Kerala collected Rs 4409.3 crore from various cooperative societies, and it was handed over to the social security pension consortium By pooling the funds from cooperative societies with a Government guarantee, the pensions of retired employees of Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) was paid Cooperative sector had contributed Rs 126 crore when Kerala was struggling for funds after the catastrophe of Kerala Floods in August 2018.67

A brief enquiry into the reasons of diversification of cooperatives underlines an important fact The agricultural sector, the beedi industry and construction workers industry were important options for workers during the colonial era and till the mid-1970s, majorly due to the absence of any other employment By 1970s skilled and unskilled workers started migrating to Gulf countries for work The former benefitted from the high human development index Kerala gained in their search for top-earning jobs If high health consciousness of Kerala's public and increasing purchasing power caused the decline of Beedi Industry, the construction boom in Gulf countries opened possibilities for construction workers and causing labour shortage in Kerala The labour shortage was filled by migrant workers from other states in India, and the highly educated youth declined to take up jobs in Beedi Industry, Agriculture and Construction sector etc Hence, modernizing these industries and diversifying the existing cooperatives became a necessity to meet the aspirations of youth Thus, the diversification of cooperatives with its new energy for experimenting is also a function of the high human development index that Kerala has acquired due to the culture of high public action This paper argues that the success of cooperative movements in Kerala is also because of the political and social dimensions

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Ashique Ali T | YSI Asia Convening, Vietnam National University in Hanoi, Vietnam 4.0 Conclusion

The case of Kerala proves that the sustainability of cooperative movement also depends on the political economy of it and the political culture around The three cooperatives studied are contextualised in three different points of time One in a Keynesian age, one during the anti-colonial struggle and the third one emerged as a response to the agrarian crisis in the neoliberal era What is common about all three is that their emergence is strongly linked with the working-class resistance or social reform movement The vibrant and dynamic local tradition of public action, adequate state support and higher density of grassroots social organisations (Isaac and Williams 2017) transformed the cooperative movement in Kerala into a social and political movement as well And these political and social dimensions help the cooperative movement in Kerala to overcome various limitations like a) its inner contradiction while facing the competitive market b) Its self-exploitation of own labour c) low capital formation etc

Methodology

The methodological approach taken was phenomenological Data on the case study of Brahmagiri Development Society, Wayanad and Kerala Dinesh Beedi, Kannur and Uralungal Contract Labour Cooperative Association, Calicut is largely based on primary sources and secondary literature The case study for which primary data has been collected was selected purposively Primary data collection was done by in-depth interview of key informants with open-ended structured question schedule and focus group discussion Secondary data were collected from cooperative institutions and existing literature

Bibliography

A) Primary Literature

1) Abdul Hameed, Political activist, Interviewed by author, July 4, 2019

2) Anil, Assistant Registrar at Department of Co-operation, Government of Kerala, Interviewed by author, July 5, 2019, Trivandrum

3) Brief note on Brahmagiri Development Society  

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Ashique Ali T | YSI Asia Convening, Vietnam National University in Hanoi, Vietnam 5) Brief note on Malabar Meat

6) Brochure on “Peasant and Workers Social Development Fund” (PWSDF)

7) Brochure on Brahmagiri Kerala Chicken

8) Customers of BDS, Interviewed by author, February 15 2019, Wayanad

9) Data received from Department of Co-operative, Government of Kerala Collected on 5th July 2019

10) General Body Report of 2017-18, Brahmagiri Development Society, Wayanad (BDS) 11) K Prabhakaran, Secretary of Kerala Dinesh, Interviewed by author, February 15, 2019,

Kannur

12) List of diversification projects of Kerala Dinesh BWCC Ltd

13) Newsletter on Brahmagiri Development Society  

14) Order No : 97/99/Ad on 31/3/1999 by Agirculture (Dairy) Department, Government of  Kerala  

15) Pamphlet and Brochure on Kerala Dinesh Coconut products (English and Malayalam)  

16) Project proposal for financial assistance for purchase and modernization of Stone Crusher unit under NCDC Sponsoring Scheme, Submitted through Department of Co-operative, Government of Kerala on 27 February 2019

17) TB Suresh, Chief Executive Officer of BDS, Interviewed by author, February 13, 2019, Wayanad

B) Secondary Literature

1) Badami, Sumant “Suicide as a Counter-Narrative in Wayanad, Southern India: The Invisible Death.” South Asia Research 34, no (July 2014): 91-112

2) Dennis, Subin “Book Launch- ‘Building Alternatives: The Story of India’s Oldest Construction Workers’ Cooperative’,” Left Word, April 4, 2018

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3) Development Channel “Kerala: Labour cooperative returns Rs 14 cr saved from infra project to govt,.” Accessed July 20, 2019

4) George, Jose, P Krishnaprasad “Agrarian Distress and Farmers' Suicides in the Tribal District of Wayanad.” Social Scientist 34, no 7/8 (2006): 70-85

http://www.developmentchannel.org/2018/12/30/kerala-labour-cooperative-returns-rs-14-cr-saved-from-infra-project-to-govt/

5) Isaac, T M Thomas, Richard W Franke, and Pyaralal Raghavan Democracy at Work in an Indian Industrial Cooperative: The Story of Kerala Dinesh Beedi

London : Cornell University Press, 1998

6) Isaac, T.M Thomas and Michelle Williams, Building Alternatives: The Story of India’s Oldest Construction Workers’ Cooperative

New Delhi: LeftWord Books, 2017

7) Kannan, Divya “Social Reform in Twentieth Century Malabar : Vagbhadananda and the Atma Vidya Sangham.” M.Phil diss., Jawaharlal Nehru University, 2012 8) Mohanakumar, S, R K Sharma “Analysis of Farmer Suicides in Kerala.” Economic

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