Role of a Woman Leader in
Cooperative Dairy Movement: Story
of NDDB – Woman Empowering
Women
Dr. Vrajlal Sapovadia (Reader)
Dr. Sarla Achuthan (Director)
B.K. School of Business Management
Gujarat University
Ahmedabad, India
Women in India
Census
 Number of female vis-à-vis male
 Social status
 Economical status
 Strengths
 Weakness

Activity Percent share by
woman
Ploughing 30%
 Planting 50%
 Livestock 50%
 Harvesting 60%
 Weeding 70%
 Processing and storing crops 85%
 Domestic work 95%

NDDB
National Dairy Development Board
 Evolution of idea
 Replicating AMUL pattern
 India – a Agro & Rural economy
 Male dominance
 Dairy, Cattle & women – strong relation
 Constitutional & Social obligations
 Directive principle

NDDB – Catalyst of
cooperative movement
Cooperative & ICA principles
 Democratic institute
 Meaning of democracy widened
 NDDB strategy – enhancing women
participation
 NDDB Women empowerment programme

Institutional Building
Systematic & value based
 Strengthening capacities of primary
members of Dairy Cooperative Society
(DCS)
 Management Committee Members
 Staff members
 Focus on viable, salient & truly member
owned as well as member controlled
 Improving physical & financial
performance

Women empowerment
programme
Why is gender integration in
cooperatives important and what are the
benefits of promoting women's
participation in cooperatives?
 What can be done to integrate women
in cooperative development and to
enhance their participation in decisionmaking processes?

Cooperative Development
Programme
Designed to strengthen role of members in
the control & governance
 Creating awareness – rights &
responsibilities
 Women education – village dairy
cooperatives in 87 milk unions
 Breeding, feeding, husbandry & better
health care of animals
 Increased membership from 800,000 to
1400,000

Objectives of CDP
Increase membership of women in DCS
 Increase awareness about modern dairying
techniques
 Train women in managing accounts of milk
sales
 Encourage women to collect milk payments
 Involve women in governance of DCS
 Encourage formation of local women’s
group

Women’s dairy Project (WDP)
Encourage active participation of women
 Bring economic & social equality
 Enable poor women to be active
 Provide income generating activities
 Generate leadership among poor women
 Encourage women to take responsibility
 Enable women to participate in other village
level organisation
 Train women in calf rearing, fodder, women
& child health etc

Activities under WDP
Provide subsidised cattle feed, artificial
insemination services, first aid
 Provide loans for purchase cattle
 Provide adult literacy training and pre
school for girls
 Creating awareness of personal hygiene
 Support the initiation of income generating
activities – supplying sewing machine,
detergent making equipment etc.

Women’s dairy leadership
programme (WDCLP)
Training & positioning local women as
change agent
 Lady Resource Persons (LRPs)
 LRPs – responsible to organise awareness
programme
 Cattle health
 Women health
 Child care

WDCLP
Literacy programme
 Leadership training
 Self Help Groups (SHGs)
 12 states
 65 milk unions
 10971 SHGs
 168290 members
 Savings of INR 240.88 million

Women Thrift Cooperatives
Women Self Help Group – a great success
 Promoting viable thrift & credit
cooperatives for women
 Madhya Pardesh & Andhra Pradesh
 133 WTCs
 9097 members
 Savings INR 10.41 million
 NDDB – perspective 2010
 25% women members

Success stories
Mukanoor Women’s Cooperative Dairy
 All women dairy union
 16000 women members
 100 women dairy cooperatives
 22000 liter/day milk procured
 Members are members of WTC

Ichhamati Milk Union etc.
601 SHGs
 Milk & marketing outlets with Mother
Dairy Brand
 Various milk products
 Sarabjit Kaur of Rapar Milk Union – 10
milch animals, earning INR 1200 per day
 WDCs drives out social evils – Gopalpur –
awakening people against evil of liquor

Women Participation &
Enhancing Measures
Mansinh Institute of Training, Mehsana,
Gujarat state
 Customised programme in material
management, utility management & electric
equipment
 Regional Demonstration & Training Centre,
Jalandhar, Punjab
 Capacity building programme for women

Enhancing Women Involvement
in Dairy Cooperatives
EWIC
 Male sensitise programme
 Forming women SHGs
 Women’s education
 Exposure to successful dairy cooperatives
 6184 DSC belonging to 61 milk unions
participated in EWIC

Growth in women cooperatives
0.62 million women members in 1986-87
 2.47 million women members in 2001-02
 Committee members
 Encourage to have at least three women
committee members
 Training programme for women committee
members
 ORG research & its inference

Benefits
Women
 Dairy
 Society
 Economical
 Social
 Institutional
 Cooperative values & cooperatives
