Introduction.

The golden era of co-operative movement began after India had won freedom. The National Dairy Development Board was set up to make the ambitious project of dairy development a success. The operation Flood Project was taken to balance the demand and supply of milk throughout the country and to help the rural people in making additional income. In Maharashtra the Flood project was launched initially in Jalgaon and Kolhapur districts only. Before its implementation both the production as well as the per capita milk consumption was too low. Apart from solving this situation, a number of village milk co-operatives have come up. However, till date the performance of many of the milk co-operatives in the state is tardy and dismal. Poor procurement of milk in majority of regions of the state is due to differential price structure and mismanagement of co-operatives. There are considerable imbalance in milk production as well as its procurement by organized sector in the state of Maharashtra. Operation Flood programme is based on the idea that the Anand pattern can be followed in different parts of India. How well this model is followed is also a part of the given case study.

Objectives of the case study

A. To study the working of milk co-operatives in two districts of Maharashtra. The focus of the study is on comparative performance of milk co-operatives in Jalgaon and Kolhapur districts of Maharashtra state. B. To recognize the problems faced by dairy co-operatives and suggests its solutions.

Body
1.Comparative study of Milk co-operatives. Milk produced in rural areas is largely consumed in urban areas. Collection of milk is by far the most important for industry. There are a number of reasons for the dismal performance of the Jalgaon district cooperative milk Union(JMPU) as compared to remarkable performance of Kolhapur District Co-operative milk producers union(KMPU). 2. Problems faced by Milk co-operative Society and the suggestion to solve them. The poor performance of milk co-operatives in India is due to following reasons. A. Irregularity in making payment. The payment by the society to its members is irregular. This problem was severe in remote villages. B. Predominance of private Traders. Private Traders give slightly higher price compared to milk co-operatives. They also extend additional facility of advancing loans. As a result, many producers stopped supplying milk to society. C. Recalcitrant Attitude of Members.

The attitude of the producers towards the society was recalcitrant. This led to lower total milk collection by the society. It led to inefficiency. D. Improper Place of establishment of society. The location of the society was such that it made it difficult for it to send vehicle for collecting milk from producers. Due to late or untimely arrival of such vehicles, many times the produce itself was getting spoilt before it could be collected. Hence, the society at times preferred to close down societies located around such remote villages. E. Malpractices at the society level. Corrupted workers of the society used to adulterate milk by adding water to it. A part of the milk which was collected, was sold in the nearby local markets for a gain by corrupted workers. Thus, members decided to close down such society. F. Recovery of loan. The societies faced difficulty to recollect loan from the producers. The producers suddenly turned hostile and stopped supplying milk to the society. Thus the societies had to suffer heavy losses owing to such hostility and had to such down. G. Politics at the society level. The dirty politics played by the members at the society level has caused the closure of many milk co-operatives. H. Nearness of societies to urban area. The societies located near urban areas could not function for long due to the increasing interference of the private traders. The producers often used to sell the milk to urban traders rather than the society due to additional benefits.