Explain the types of co-operative societies.

1. Consumer’s cooperative societies: 

• The consumer cooperative societies are formed to protect the interests of consumers. 
• The members comprise of consumers desirous of obtaining good quality products at reasonable prices. 
• The society aims at eliminating middlemen to achieve economy in operations. 
• It purchases goods in bulk directly from the wholesalers and sells goods to the members directly. 
• Profits, if any, are distributed on the basis of either their capital contributions to the society or purchases made by individual members.

2. Producer’s cooperative societies:

• These societies are set up to protect the interest of small producers. 
• The members comprise of producers desirous of procuring inputs for production of goods to meet the demand of consumers. 
• The society aims to fight against the big capitalists and enhance the bargaining power of the small producers. 
• It supplies raw materials, equipment and other inputs to the members and also buys their output for sale. 
• Profits among the members are generally distributed on the basis of their contributions to the total pool of goods produced or sold by the society.

3. Marketing cooperative societies: 

• Such societies are established to help small prices in selling their products. 
• The members consist of producers who wish to obtain reasonable prices for their output. 
• The society aims to eliminate middlemen and improve competitive position of its members by securing a favorable market for the products. 
• It pools the output of individual members and performs marketing functions like transportation, warehousing, packaging, etc. 
• Profits are distributed according to each member’s contribution to the pool of output.

4. Farmer’s cooperative societies: 

• These societies are established to protect the interests of farmers by providing better inputs at a reasonable cost. 
• The members comprise of farmers who wish to jointly take up farming activities. 
• The aim is to gain the benefits of large scale farming and increase the productivity.
• Such societies provide better quality seeds, fertilizers, machinery and other modern techniques.

5. Credit cooperative societies: 

• Credit cooperative societies are established for providing easy credit on reasonable terms to the members. 
• The members comprise of persons who seek financial help in the form of loans. 
• The aim of such societies is to protect the members from the exploitation of lenders who charge high rates of interest on loans. 
• Such societies provide loans to members out of the amounts collected as capital and deposits from the members and charge low rates of interest.

6. Cooperative housing societies: 

• To help people with limited income to construct houses at reasonable costs. 
• The members of these societies consist procuring residential accommodation at lower costs.
• The aim is to solve the housing problems of the members by constructing houses and giving the option of paying in installments. 
• These societies construct flats or provide plots to members on which the members themselves can construct the houses as per their choice.