State makes good progress in co-operative sector

MYSORE: After Gujarat and Maharashtra, Karnataka occupies the third position in the co-operative movement in India and has made tremendous progress in the Cooperative Sector. As of March 31, 2010, there are 34,927 societies enrolled with the Registrar of Co-operative Societies of which 30,093 are functioning, 2,710 are defunct and the remaining 2,124 are under liquidation.When it comes to profit, societies registered in Mangalore stands first among districts which are running profitably namely Kodagu, D-K, Udupi, Karwar, Belgaum, Bijapur and Bagalkot. Comparatively, profit margins of societies registered in Mysore is less. There are 8,235 cooperative societies in Mysore, Chamarajanagar, Mandya, Hassan, Chikmagalore, Kodagu, D-K and Udupi districts, of which 4,133 are running profiting, 2,315 under loss and the remaining 1,787 are average out. In Mysore a total of 1,881 cooperative societies are registered, of which 904 are profiting, 639 under loss and 338 are average out. According to sources from the Cooperative Society Officers, the reason is existence of about 200 odd-consumer societies which are not performing well and also due to loss in consumer sector, marketing sector and processing sector. According to officials, the reason for Mangalore recording the highest profit is because in Mangalore the member participation is quite high and they are also prompt in making re-payment of loans borrowed from the society.  Sector wise it is the milk sector that records the highest profit among all the cooperative societies. Even in rural areas societies registered under Public Distribution System and Handicrafts are running under loss due to lack of active participation by its members. While credit activities and urban banking in big cities like Bangalore are running under profit while consumer goods sector, marketing sector and processing sector, including the Mahila Multi-Purpose Society are under loss.