Objectives
6.1 Cooperative laws of five countries namely Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, South Korea and Japan have reference to objects of the Law.
Bangladesh
6.2 In Bangladeshi laws the preamble states: “Whereas it is expedient to make further provisions for the formation and working of cooperatives and for the promotion of thrift, self-help and mutual aid and among persons of moderate means with needs and interest in common, to the end that better conditions of living and better methods of production and business may thereby result and for that purpose to amend the law relating to cooperative societies in Bangladesh”.
Fiji
6.3 Section 4 states objectives of cooperatives:
Cooperative aims at promoting the economic and social interest of the members by providing effective services, which the members need and can, make use of.
The main purpose of a cooperative is not maximization of profits but service to members and a cooperative shall operate according to sound business principles.
India
6.4 In India every state has its own law in addition to the federal law. Thus the object of the federal law is “to consolidate and amend the law relating to cooperative societies with objects not confined to one State and serving the interests of members in more then one State”.
Sri Lanka
6.5 The principal law for co-operative is the co-operative societies law No.5 of 1972, the preamble of which reads as follows:" a law to provide for the development of co-operative societies and to consolidate and amend the law relating to the constitution and control of co-operative societies and to provide for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto". There have been several amendments to this law too, and the amendment of considerable interest is the co-operative societies Amendment Act No.11 of 1992, where one can see how the Ministerial level conferences held under the auspices of the ICA ROAP have influenced considerable liberalization form registrar control. The preamble to the 1972 law is amended by substituting the word “Administration” for the word “Control”; Active politicians are prevented from holding office in a co-operative society or from getting elected to the board/Committee; provision has been made for the admission of associate members persons who contract for the transaction of business with the society; the law at chapter XIA provides "Special provisions applicable to co-operative societies operating with State Funds, and here the Registrar remains in a dominant controlling position, whereas elsewhere, much of his powers have been relaxed.
Another important development that has to be noted is that subsequent to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka and the setting Up Of Provincial Councils, The Subject Of Co-Operation has been transferred to the Provincial Councils, and the Center handles only matters of Policy, the National Apexes, and Co-operative Societies which have a multi Provincial Membership. Many a Provincial Council has by now promulgated their own Status On Cooperation, some of which increased the powers of Minister (Provincial)/Registrar quite considerably.
South Korea
6.6 The Agricultural Cooperative Law of South Korea States: “The purpose of the law shall be to secure the balanced development of the national economy by increasing agricultural productivity and enhancing the economic and social status of farmers through the independent cooperative organizations of farmers”.
Japan
6.7 Article 1 of the Agricultural Cooperative Society law of Japan states the objective of the law as: “This Law has for its objectives the promotion of sound development of farmers cooperative system, thereby improving agricultural productivity and socio-economic status of farmers, as well as ensuring the development of the national economy”.
6.8 Thus it could be observed that while the objects of the Indian Cooperative Law is more
of a clarification, the Bangladesh preamble has the wider objective visualized by the state
through cooperatives. In Korean Law under reference, which deals only with agricultural
cooperatives, again the objective is enhancing the economic and social status of farmers
through “independent cooperative”. On the other hand, the Japanese law's objective is the
sound development of farmers cooperative system which will help in achieving the same
objectives as mentioned in the Korean Law. While the intentions of the laws in the two
countries are alike, the Japanese provision seems to be worded more appropriately from
an autonomy of the cooperatives point of view. This approach difference may also
possibly have been blurred in the translation from Korean to English.
In the Sri Lankan Law the objective is stated as development of cooperatives and
“constitution and control” of cooperatives. The words constitution and control are not
very appropriate as law is basically a tool for providing identity and broad framework for
the cooperatives only. Subsequent to the 1992 Amendment, the Objective of the Law has
been revised as "Constitution and Administration of Co-operatives. However, it would
be more appropriate to have as the objective of the Law as “assisting in the formation,
registration and development of co-operatives”.
