The Role of Co-operative Institutions in Agricultural Finance in W.b.: a Financial Appraisal

The concept and system of co-operation was first introduced in India to bridge the huge gap between the need for and the supply of institutional funds to the farmers and as a defensive organization for dealing with problems of rural indebtedness. Co-operative Credit Societies Act was first enacted in 1904. That was later replaced by a more comprehensive Act in 1912. Thereafter, the States also enacted Acts to promote co-operatives. The rural economy of West Bengal, a State of India, is mainly an agro-based economy, like most of the other States of the country. In fact, for promoting a balanced, equitable and self-reliant pattern of development of the State, one cannot deny the strategic standard role of agriculture in the rural areas. In the backdrop of the above, this study seeks to examine the role of co-operatives in the scenario of agricultural finance in West Bengal. The analysis should be useful to the researchers and students of both social and financial economics, especially those dealing with agricultural finance in India, by providing an insight into the rural co-operatives in India, with a focus on a representative State.