Giving Shape to Cooperative Training in India

Professor Paramjit Sharma

sharmapjit@rediffmail.c

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 Giving Shape to Cooperative Training in India
‘Cooperative training is not merely a prerequisite but it is a
permanent condition of Cooperative activities’ said Vaikunthbhai
Mehta, one of the most respected cooperators in our country. The
visionary, as he was called, must have assessed the utility of training for
the development of cooperative movement in India. But despite its size
coupled with its contribution to rural development, it has not gained the
respect expected for a system, which claims to be one of the largest in
Asia. Cooperative training, initiated in India with the recommendation of
Saraiya Committee on Cooperative Planning in 1945, is imparted by
over two hundred training institutions in India. All put together, may be
annually organising around four thousand training programmes of different
duration and training around a lakh of personnel out of over 13.8 million
employed by cooperative in India. In a way leaving a wide gap between
people employed and trained in the cooperative sector.

Besides training inadequately, it has also not been entirely possible for the
training structure to achieve the objectives for which it was conceived. No
doubt, it may not be justifiable to compare training with a production
function, where output can be conveniently measured at regular intervals.
It may be assumed as an investment, where payback period invariably
depends upon the capacity and need of the users and ability of the
organizers. In fact, it is difficult for the training institutions to provide a
training ‘blue print’ which perfectly fits into the diverse training needs
arising from field level situations. But it may be worth trying to visualise
training which is realistic, practical, participative and ongoing.

Training, unlike education, does not always have set curriculum. The
inputs tend to change with the level of expectations. If the inputs are not
changed, modified or adjusted according to felt needs the output of such
training may spell disaster. Such approach shows high amount of
divergence between the training imparted and training requirements at field
level. As a result, cooperative training has been, invariably, charged with
labels like ‘too theoretical’, ‘far away from field level situations’, ‘teaching
not training’, ‘knowledge enhancement rather than skill oriented’, etc. All
said may not be true, but if at all we wish to make training effective, it may
be desirable to give a cutting edge to the structure by putting teeth into the
system otherwise its condition can be compared with a toothless person
who can only swallow but can’t chew to eat.

*by Paramjit Sharma, Professor, VAMNICOM, Pune

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Except few cooperative training institutions, others depend upon some sort
of grants, subsidies or contributions from external agencies. Financially
dependent institutes often become complacent as the budgeted amount
tends to come to them irrespective of their contribution to the movement.
Swedish Cooperative Centre, despite getting its finance from well
developed cooperatives in Sweden, including K.F., slashed its training
activities once the grants from financing agencies stopped. In future,
technical support including training may no more be funded by the
government. It is, therefore, necessary to establish a system for the
provision of technical support services by some specialised NGO’s, or by
the movement itself so that the training institutions need not justify their
achievements through projecting excellent statistical figures without
mentioning the direct impact of training on the cooperative development.

Cooperative training system has employed trainers in a large number, who

are expected to facilitate fulfilling the condition which Vaikunthbhai
expected from cooperative training. The experience shows, while these
trainers are equipped with reasonable qualifications but their ability to train
has remained questionable. If the quality of the trainers is a suspect and
not in conformity with the requirements of the system, the outcome of
training provided by them may necessarily serve the interest of the
movement. They need to not only excel in the area of their specialisation
but also continuously make themselves conversant with the field level
realities. A trainer is expected to be equipped with techniques like
curriculum development, assessing training needs, preparing training
materials, have knowledge of field level realities, using multimedia and
other participative techniques and so on. If one out of these arsenals in
trainers is missing, it looses the sharpness, focus and the purpose
essential for training in-service adults. The success of training and
development strategies to a large extent depends upon the knowledge, the
skill, the commitment and the dedication of the trainers. Unfortunately, in
cooperative training too, as in other activities, the emphasis is more on
other things than on competence of trainers, whether hired or owned.

Adult by nature, find it difficult to concentrate in a class room for more than
15-20 minutes at a stretch. The switch off can be minimised through their
active participation in the learning process. Training through multimedia,
and other simulation techniques can enhance their learning in a much
shorter period then compelling them to sit through the lectures in which
their interest depends upon the skill of the trainers. During a course of
cooperatives in Africa, the instructor began a session by reading from the
text book. One of the students raised a hand to intervene,”Sir”, he said,

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“We know how to read. What we want to know is what to do and how
to do it?"

Cooperatives in the right earnest, should devise curricula, which is problem

oriented and manages to put across the cooperative message to the
participants. The effective use of training materials designed to bring
interaction between theoretical and practical knowledge of the participants
may be the right choice together with use of desired technology. Training
based on such technology, in certain cases, can be imparted without the
movement of learners from their working places. It may not only create
enthusiasm amongst the participants but also saves their time and help
training institutions to even earn revenue through production and
marketing of such training materials. In the past, due to their over
enthusiasm in adopting the latest technology many institutions have made
huge investments without assessing in advance the cost, usage, speed of
change and obsolescence in technology, adaptability to local conditions
etc. and later repenting when change in environment and technology
required huge cost for its replacements. Unless otherwise necessary, it
may be advisable to hire the custom based technology and consultants,
rather than owning these inputs, the replacement cost of which, for training
institutions, could be quite discouraging.

Cooperative training structure was originally planned for agricultural credit.

But with the influx of the time cooperatives spread their wings into sugar,
spinning, housing, consumers, labour, dairy, fishing, etc. and the demand
for training also took a shift from the traditional requirements. The training
programme’s contents too took a change from unitary to multisector and
training demand for management functions also increased. With the result
the composition of the participants in the training programmes changed
from one sector to multi sectors. Unfortunately, majority of the trainers
who were drawn from credit sector to handle a group belonging to only
credit sector found themselves at sea training heterogeneous group.
Moreover, invariably, they were required to handle functional areas without
having adequate background and experience in different cooperative
sectors.

Paradoxically, the trainers and the trainees were through into a process
without knowing ‘what is expected from a programme’. Training, where the
participants come with a purpose ‘to visit new places for excursion’ ‘enjoy
decent hospitality’ and what not, can be labeled not better than being
called ‘Paid Holidays’.On being enquired, the secret of his success in
organising training programmes, one of the trainer boisterously informed
that while organising a programme he concentrate on providing ‘good bag’,

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‘good food’ and arranging ‘good field visit’. While it may not be true with all
the programmes or all type of participants, but such practices may do more
harm to the organisations than any ‘good’ to the cooperative movement.
Therefore, cooperative organisations should seriously prepare job
description for each post of their employees to assess the performance
gaps so that training helps in improving productivity rather than sponsoring
excursions at the institutional cost. This process may take time but the
result may prove beneficial to the movement in the long run.

ICFAI, Hyderabad in early 90’s, over a period of two years, had spent
over a crore rupees to establish linkages with the faculty and management
of business schools through organising seminars, workshops,
consultations etc. Once the relations were established, ICFAI managed to
market their programme CFA by combining it with their MBA’s. Thus
marketing their product, which not only saved lot of cost but facilitated
them to create unending demand of their product amongst students?
Cooperative training institutes market their programmes by sending
brochures to cooperatives, cooperative departments and certain parastatel
organisations, believing the existence of demand in the market. In a
strategy of hit and miss, many programmes collapsed like house of cards
due to unscientific methods followed in assessing demand both at the level
of users as well as training institutions. Many alternatives were devised to
attract participants, such as taking the people out to resorts, health clubs,
organising events in star hotels etc. These alternatives, no doubt, did
attract the participants but the quality and effectiveness of such events
may or not serve the desired interest of the movement. Deployment of
surplus funds(kerela), non productive assets(banks), business
development plan(pacs), income tex(suger&banks),structural reforms,
formulation of cooperative policy, changes in cooperative legislations,
debate on cooperative companies etc. were the markets created by
cooperatives for training institutions. It was for the training structure to
grab the opportunities or miss them. Users and trainers should, therefore,
collectively find out what is desired otherwise the market may be captured
by some other players in the market.

Cooperatives involve huge manpower in shape of members, leaders,

employees, etc. While cooperative training institutes have been structured
to train or educate particular type of manpower, no scientific method has
been applied in assessing training needs of the movement and deputing
them for training. With the result the physical and other facilities created
for cooperative education or training are not optimally utilised. While
preparing a report on ‘Cooperative Training Facilities’ in a particular state,
where five training institutes, controlled by different organisations were
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complaining to the ‘cooperative department’ to impose restrictions to
prevent entry into each other’s areas of operation. After study, it was found
that they trained only one tenth of the manpower with the cooperatives in
the state. Thus, underutilizing the facilities to a great extent. Therefore,
some HRD or coordination committee should periodically conduct a survey
of manpower available, their training requirements and channeling the
participants by having an informatics centre in a state or a region, without
interfering into their routine affairs, so as to ensure optimal utilization of
physical and other training facilities created for cooperatives and assist
them in drawing comprehensive HRD policies which may be the basis for
training and education programmes .

Estimating cost involved in imparting training could be a good topic of

research. The components of cost, interalia, may include annual budget of
training institutions, annual fee or fund paid by the users, travelling cost of
the participants including the cost of their absence and opportunity cost of
return on investments in creating physical assets etc. It may be equally
interesting to include cost of attending training programmes abroad. No
doubt calculating such cost may be a gigantic task and equally baffling
would be to find out the benefits or impact of such training programmes to
the movement. But it may be important to study how much training cost to
the movement. Therefore, it may be important to make the training cost
effective so that large number of people can take benefit of the facilities.
Some alternatives like, one day seminars with longer working hours, in-
house training, video conferencing, programmed training, computer based
self learning, hiring trainers and technology than owning, are some of the
measures which can be applied to make the training cost effective.

It is commonly believed that a trainer should have ‘one leg’ in the class and
‘another’ in the field to keep himself update with the field realities. Besides
their class room work they should be encouraged to take up projects, case
studies, consultancies, etc. even at the cost of incurring extra on such
work. The absence of field experience in the trainers, do not inspire a
training programme and their involvement in such activities may help them
to gain first hand experience in socio, economic and political realities. The
participants can also take advantage of their research work by applying it
in their working conditions. While sharing their experiences, it was
mentioned by one of the officer, who had undergone training at one of the
premier training institution in India that after joining at his job, ‘he found
the job realities totally different than what he was equipped to handle
during training’.

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Cooperatives can’t do every thing on this earth. They have performed
magnificently in certain areas and failed in some, as it happens with
institutions formed to achieve socio-economic objectives. While it may be
advisable to them to refrain from entering into every field, but they should
not hesitate to play an effective balancing agent in an area which concerns
the community at large. A.F.Laidlaw in his report, ‘Preparing
Cooperatives for 21st Century’ has observed, ‘in age of terrifying
corporate power, the cooperative way is the only means by which
great masses of people can exercise and enjoy corporate rights’.
Therefore, it may be right time for cooperatives to diversify their efforts in
the area of tourism, rural electrification, healthcare, insurance, protection
of environment as has been experienced in few countries. In North Dakota,
New Generation Cooperatives have achieved tremendous success since
1995.One of the reason of success was attributed to their formation after
conducting feasibility report through experts. With the diversification of
cooperatives, training institutions should take lead in providing them
adequate expertise to not only compete but also ability to succeed.

Therefore, it may be imperative for the training system to learn and

improve according to field realities, diversify into activities opened for
cooperatives due to changed economic scenario, make optimum utilization
of physical and human assets, participate in cooperative policy formulation
as referred in the draft national policy document, develop training inputs
as per requirements of the system and how the skills in cooperative
management and entrepreneurship be developed as a result of structural
reforms and stronger competition, giving emphasis on value based
management and practices, helping the manpower including leaders in
their attitudinal changes, if workable or possible affiliate to universities or
form their own as Wisconsin or California Universities are having affiliated
centers for cooperatives because cooperative system that are affiliated to
educational institutions and programmes of continuing education may have
advantage over those that don’t, and imparting training which is realistic,
practical, participative and ongoing so that it not only train but enhance
the competence of huge manpower with cooperatives. All India Rural
Credit Survey Committee in their report has observed, ”on few things the
success of the cooperative movement depends so much as on
finding the right men and giving them the right training”.While the job
of finding ‘right men’ can be best left on the users, giving ‘right training’ is
the job of training institutions.It may therefore, be important for the
management of these training institutions to remember, if cooperatives
continues to fail, they may also be blamed for failing to perform their job
with responsibility.