100th International Day of Cooperatives(IDC)

History of the IDC-

• Marked by cooperatives worldwide since 1923 and officially proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly(UNGA) on the centenary of the International Cooperative Alliance(ICA) in 1995, the International Day of Cooperatives is celebrated annually on the first Saturday of July.
• The aim of Day is to increase awareness of cooperatives and promote the movement’s ideas of international solidarity, economic efficiency, equality, and world peace. 
• Scotland is known to be the place where the earliest recorded co-operative was formed. 
• A group of 28 artisans working in the cotton mills in the north of England established the first modern co-operative business in 1844. 
• In 2012 the United Nations International Year of Co-operatives was observed.
• Since 1995, the ICA and the United Nations through Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC) have jointly set the theme for the celebration of IDC.
• Theme for 2022 is – “Cooperatives Build a Better World.” 
• Cooperatives can be defined as people-led enterprises owned, controlled and run by and for their members to achieve a common economic, social, and cultural goal.

Cooperative movement in India-

• The cooperative movement in India is the largest in the world. 
• At present, cooperatives in India with a network of over 8.5 lakh covering 90 percent of the villages, are pivotal institutions for bringing socio-economic development for inclusive growth in both rural and urban areas.

• The first Cooperative Credit So­cieties Act was passed in 1904. 

• To remove the weaknesses of this Act, the new Cooperative Societies Act was passed in 1912.
• The first co-operative society of India was registered in 1905 at Kanaginahal village, Gadag district of Karnataka. 
• The first co-operative movement in Asia was stated at Kanaginahal under the leadership of Sri Siddanagouda Sanna Ramanagouda Patil (1843–1933), who is known as the ‘Father of Cooperative movement in Karnataka’.
• When it comes to constitutional provisions, the 97th amendment i.e. right to form cooperative societies and including it in Article 19 of the Constitution, the practice of forming cooperative societies has become one of the fundamental rights of an Indian citizen.
• A separate Ministry of Cooperation was created by the Government of India for realizing the vision of ‘Sahkar se Samriddhi’.
• The Ministry of Cooperation and National Cooperative Union of India organized the  100th IDC event with the theme “Cooperatives Build an Atmanirbhar Bharat and Better World”.