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About NCUI

ORIGIN

The National Cooperative Union of India, (NCUI) is an apex organisation representing the entire cooperative movement in the country. It was established in 1929 as All India Cooperative Institutes Association and was re-organised as Indian Cooperative Union through the merger of Indian Provincial Cooperative Banks' Association with All India Cooperative Institutes Association and later in 1961 as National Cooperative Union of India. Ever since then NCUI has been acting as torchbearer of cooperative movement in the country. Of late, it has diversified its activities and programmes to address the emerging issues affecting the cooperative movement.

OBJECTIVES

  • Expresses opinion on matters of cooperative policy and acts as the accredited representative of the Indian Cooperative Movement in the national and international spheres.
  • Organises cooperative education and training programmes and popularises the principles and practices of cooperation.
  • Organises, conducts, collaborates and assists in carrying out research and analysis of cooperative problems and formulation of projects for cooperative development.
  • Arranges for the production and publication of literature and audiovisual aids including films, filmstrips on cooperation and allied subjects.
  • Lends publicity to the activities of cooperatives through periodicals, journals, newspapers, pamphlets, brochures, books, films, broadcasts, T.V. for creating favourable opinion for the development of the cooperative movement.
  • Convenes and holds the National Cooperative Congress, Zonal Conferences, Cooperative Seminars, Meetings, Conferences, Exhibitions etc.;
  • Selects delegates, representatives and observers on behalf of the Union for participation in International, National and State Conferences.
  • Promotes international cooperative institutions and assists member societies in resolving their problems and difficulties and formulation of programmes and their implementation while preserving and safeguarding the democratic character of the cooperative movement in the country.
  • Promotes international cooperative relations through active collaboration with ICA, UNO, FAO, ILO, UNDP, UNIDO and other international agencies involved in cooperative development.
  • Promotes international marketing on cooperative-to-cooperative basis by documenting necessary information and acts as nodal agency for the benefit of Indian Cooperative Movement.
  • Provides consultancy services to the cooperatives.

      FUNCTIONING

      The President is the head of the organisation and is supported by the Chief Executive who operates through various functional divisions of the NCUI Secretariat.
      The supreme authority of NCUI vests with its General Body which meets once a year to decide the policy and programmes for cooperative development and also elects the Governing Council of NCUI once for a period of five years. The Governing Council meets once in every quarter and functions through the Executive Committee and other functional committees.
      The working of NCUI reflects the democratic yearnings of the cooperators and the cooperative institutions involved in cooperative development. The membership of NCUI is broad-based comprising of cooperative institutions at national level, state level and multi-state cooperative societies representing all sectors of the Indian cooperative movement. At present, there are 300 institutions which are members of NCUI.

      COOPERATIVE EDUCATION FIELD PROJECTS

      NCUI is committed to strengthen cooperative roots in those areas where the cooperative sector lags behind. Integrated development of cooperative societies in the comparatively underdeveloped areas of various states is undertaken through Central Government Scheme of Cooperative Education Field Projects located in various parts of the country. This aims to increase the productivity of the farmer members and also helps in creating job opportunities through income generating activities. There are 43 Cooperative Education Field Projects all over the country located in relatively backward states and areas. Four projects exclusively for women are operational at Shimoga (Karnataka), Aska (Odhisa), Bhopal (M.P.) and Imphal West (Manipur). In the recent years, the NCUI projects have raised the living standards of the poor by engaging them in various income generating activities. The Bilaspur project in Himachal Pradesh through international collaboration with Ja-Zenchu, a highly successful agricultural cooperative of Japan, has become a role model for others.

      NATIONAL CENTRE FOR COOPERATIVE EDUCATION (NCCE)

      The NCCE, which was set up in 1958, organises cooperative education programmes for all sections showing its wide reach. While the Diploma Programme in Cooperative Education and Development provides general inputs, the Leadership Development Programmes for Chairmen/Directors of cooperative movement aim to sharpen the competence of the leaders by imparting modern management skill. Orientation courses in cooperative management for university/college lecturers and faculty members of Junior Cooperative Training Centres are designed to provide them latest knowledge in cooperatives. Refresher Course for Cooperative Education Instructors of State/District Cooperative Unions and Farm Guidance Instructors are designed to enhance capability-building of grassroots functionaries.
      Of late, the number of participants in NCCE's training programmes has exceeded beyond targets. Based on the needs of the participants, the programmes have undergone several qualitative changes. The Diploma Programme in Cooperative Education and Development of NCCE has gained international recognition as more and more participants from SAARC and African countries are now attending the Programme. The Refresher Course for Faculty of Colleges and Universities has been attracting large number of participants every year, reflecting NCUI's commitment to expand cooperative knowledge in educational institutions so as to attract the youth. This is further bolstered by the fact that Diploma Programme in Cooperation has been started at Bhagat Phool Singh Mahila University, Sonipat and Mahendra Garh University. Further, with the signing of MOU with Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangthan, NCUI has been popularising cooperative education in the schools. The NCCE hostel is well equipped to serve the needs of participants as it has 50 AC/ Non-AC fully furnished rooms with double occupancy.

      NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR COOPERATIVE TRAINING

      National Council for Cooperative Training (NCCT) is the only cooperative training institute involved in capacity building to strengthen HRD plank of cooperatives. Training of cooperative employees, both institutional and departmental, is being undertaken through National Council for Cooperative Training. The three-tier training structure of the cooperative training comprises of Vaikunth Mehta National Institute of Cooperative Management (VAMNICOM), Pune, 5 Regional Institutes of Cooperative Management (RICMs), 14 Institutes of Cooperative Management (ICMs) located at state capitals and 107 Junior Training Centres (JTCs) located at far flung areas of the states meant for senior, middle and junior level officials. To tap the best talent in the cooperative sector, Post Graduate Diploma Programme in Business Administration of two years duration is run at VAMNICOM Pune. VAMNICOM also runs Diploma in Cooperative Business Management for in-service personnel working in the cooperative organisations.
      Apart from regular cooperative programmes, professional courses like PGDM (Agri-Business), MBA, PGDCA, BBA and Diploma in Rural Management etc. are also conducted by the training units to equip the participants with necessary knowledge, skills and aptitude required to manage corporate and cooperative enterprises. Research and consultancy is one of the major thrust areas of the Council. Training units of the Council focus attention on conducting the field based theoretical and analytical studies and disseminate the same through various publications.
      Certification of Training Institutions by way of accreditation was initiated by Centre for Professional Excellence in Cooperative (C-PEC) of Bankers Institute of Rural Development (BIRD) of NABARD to ensure desired standards of training. All the RICMs/ICMs of NCCT are accredited with C-PEC, BIRD, Lucknow. The faculty members of RICMs/ICMs have passed Certified Trainer for Financial Cooperatives (CTFC) Course offered by C-PEC, BIRD and have become certified trainers for banking and financial cooperatives. To ensure high standards in cooperative training, the Council collaborates with national and international organisations concerned with HRD. The institutes under NCCT organise collaborative programmes in collaboration with different national/international level cooperatives and other organisations. All the units of NCCT are well-equipped with hostel and computer facilities.

      PUBLICATIONS

      The NCUI has been publishing journals of repute with a national perspective. "The Cooperator" is an illustrated monthly journal of topical issues which carries articles, features, interviews, success stories, reports on the areas concerning cooperative sector. "Indian Cooperative Review" a quarterly published by NCUI contains research articles and case studies on various segments of the cooperative movement. NCUI has a rich in-house store of publications comprising of books on success stories, legal aspects, and major cooperative trends. The Statistical Profile updates policy makers and planners with changing trends in cooperative movement in various sectors.

      COOPERATIVE CONGRESS

      One of the notable activities of the NCUI is to formulate policies and programmes which not only highlights the achievements of cooperatives but also sets the direction for future growth of the cooperative movement in India. The Cooperative Congress is the mega event of the cooperative movement which reviews the trends of the movement and provides future projections. To highlight achievements of the cooperatives and to prepare future roadmap, NCUI organised 16th Indian Cooperative Congress successfully on 25-26 June, 2013 which was inaugurated by Hon'ble President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherji, and was attended by around 2000 delegates.

      PUBLICITY AND PUBLIC RELATIONS

      As a major image-building exercise, NCUI undertakes various activities for publicity and public relations. The notable activity in this regard is the celebration of All India Cooperative Week throughout the country from 14 to 20 November every year. The week-long celebrations based on a particular theme galvanises the states to organise cooperative awareness activities/programmes in every nook and corner of the country. In the memory of Late Vaikunth Bhai Mehta, the Doyen of Indian Cooperative Movement, NCUI organises Lecture from a distinguished personality regularly. Besides, NCUI provides timely information to the member institutions, maintains strong liaison with the press, sensitises the mainstream press through regular press releases, and organises conferences and seminars for building opinion in favour of cooperatives.

      INTERNATIONAL COOPERATIVE RELATIONS

      Being the apex organisation of the Indian Cooperative Movement, the NCUI collaborates with ICA, UNO, FAO, ILO, UNDP, UNIDO and other international agencies involved in cooperative development. The Union takes active part in various Standing Committees/Regional Assembly of ICA, particularly the Regional Office for Asia and Pacific, New Delhi. In furtherance of the inter-cooperative relations, the NCUI deputes a number of staff working in cooperative institutions for training and for attending conferences/seminars abroad.
      CICTAB International Training Programme is organized at National Centre for Cooperative Education on "Training Techniques for Trainers of Cooperatives & Rural Financing Institutions" for the CICTAB members in the SAARC region.
      Under the MoU signed with selected countries, NCUI encourages exchange of information to improve bilateral cooperation with other countries / organizations through international study exposure visit. This enables the participants to learn about the best practices adopted by the cooperatives in other countries. NCUI also facilitates the visit of fraternal delegates to the different cooperative institutions/organizations to share the experience of Indian cooperatives in order to promote professional, social & cultural bonding.
      To commemorate the occasion of International Cooperative Day celebrated on the first Saturday of July every year, NCUI organises Symposium on a prescribed theme. On this occasion, Children's Painting Contest is organised in which the children in the age group of 6-15 years are invited and the paintings are sent to IE NO HIKARI Association of Japan for the Annual World Children's Picture Contest.