THE URALUNGAL LABOUR CONTRACT
COOPERATIVE SOCIETY LTD. (ULCCS)
A Cooperative Success Story
in Infrastructure Development
Since 1925
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Outlines of the Presentation
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Role of NCUI in promoting cooperatives
Profile of the Society
Cooperative Values and Principles
Cooperative Governance
Business sustainability
Challenges and problems faced by the society and interventions initiated with
reference to goals or objectives .
Keys to success and its emulation elsewhere.
Lessons from the success story.
Benefits to the members and other beneficiaries.
Long term sustainability of the model with reference to social, financial and
environmental factor.
Why the two practices are the ‘best practices’ ?
Results of intervention and its impact to the ULCCS growth and development.
Cooperative Social Responsibility (CSR)
NCUI is an apex organization of the Indian Cooperative Movement in the country, the NCUI is
committed to lend dynamism and vibrancy to the cooperative sector in the twenty first
century. To make the voice of Cooperation as strong as ever is NCUI's supreme motto.
Three strategic objectives:
 Promote and develop the cooperative movement in India.
 To educate, guide and assist the people in their efforts to build up and expand the
cooperate sector.
 To serve as an exponent of cooperative opinion in accordance with cooperative principles.
The organization engages in:
 Expressing opinion on matters of cooperative policy.
 Organizing National Cooperative Congress, cooperative seminars, meetings and
conferences, etc. as sensitization measures for propagating the cause of Cooperation.
 Organizing cooperative education and training programmes and conducting research.
 Selecting delegates for participation in the international, national and state conferences
and collaborating with international organization involved in cooperative development.
 Publicizing the achievements of cooperatives through print and electronic media and
maintaining an information bureau and a library.
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India, as the second most populated country and
one of the fastest growing economies in the
world, is highly concentrating in building civil
infrastructure especially in roads, communication
systems & utilities.
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Almost 52% of the total unorganised workers are
employed as construction labourers. There are
hardly any regulation ensuring issues concerning
sustainability of their livelihood, earnings and
working condition.
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In order to ensure development with growth, this
massive work of nation building should percolate
to the grass root levels giving a fair share of this
exercise to the labour available in Indian villages.
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Labour Contract Cooperative Societies play a vital
role in making these opportunities of growth
available to labour masses.
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The Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative
Society (ULCCS Ltd.) an 86 year old construction
society hailing from a rural pocket in Malabar
region in North Kerala had proven its mettle by
establishing a niche of its own in the
infrastructure development in Kerala.
Profile of the Society
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The Uralungal labour Contract Co-operative Society Ltd. (ULCCS Ltd) is a
construction society Estd: in 1925 and registered under co-operative societies act.
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The society head quartered at Madappally in Vatakara Thaluk in Kozhikode Dist.
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Today, the society has to its credit long 85 years of meritorious survival and tops the
list of best working Labour Contract Co-operatives in India.
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More than 2000 workers including 750 members and about 1749 non-members, are
engaging daily.
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It needs no reiteration that this is the best labourers Co-operative Society in the state
executing the contract works from the Public Work Department, National Highways,
Water Authority, Harbour Engineering and District-Block-Grama Panchayats etc.
strictly adhering to time limit and quality requirements and standards of the work.
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Today, the society has to its credit long 81 years of meritorious survival and it tops the
list of best working Labour Contract Co-operatives in India.
Cooperative Governance
 ULCCS
has
a
well-defined
organizational
structure
to
execute the decisions of the board
and a consultation wing to
associate in making the policy
decisions.
Management
Board of Directors
President
 The Board is elected an interval of
5 years and including president
consist of ten directors
Secretary
 All the directors need to have
worked as construction worker
and are paid daily wages and not
salaried. All the ten directors work
full time and each director is
responsible for certain no. of
division or worksite.
Finance
Roads
Director
Administration
Bridges
Project Management
Buildings
Cooperative Governance Contd..
 The BOD meets every day and collectively take decisions and manages the work
 BOD also has a paid secretary who is appointed with the approval of State
Cooperative Department and act as head of office.
 Members are expected to attend and actively participate in the monthly general
body meeting
 According to the norms, members repeatedly absenting from the monthly meetings
are panelized by detecting various for May-day, if paid holiday for the members
otherwise.
 BOD exercises strict discipline by punishing defaulty members to work in
quarrying or suspending from work for few days.
 Workers are expected to adhere to norms like maintaining peaceful atmosphere at
worksite
 BOD has power to suspend the members but it cannot remove the members. Only
general body has right to remove the member
 The society highly emphasize on establishment of professional governance starting
from policy formulation – execution till bill collection.
 For various policy decisions it takes consultation well known professional bodies
including Indian Institute of Management, NIIT Kozhikode.
Membership Education and
Participation
The members participate in almost all
key decision making process.
Along with regular board meetings of the
directors/executors there are workmen’s
meeting, technical review meetings and
Annual General Body Meeting to put forth
every key policy decision for participation
from the members in number of votes.
The
awarding of membership
recognition to a worker in the society.
is
Members attend cooperative education
programme and various training &
exposure programme from time to time.
ULCC manual labours earn higher wages
than lowest grade employee of the Govt.
Every members gets a bonus twice a
year, medical allowances, gratuity and
provident fund contribution.
 During the eight decades of its existence ULCCS Ltd. had
developed strong systems within the organisation to complete
the projects in time, cost without compromising quality of
work.
 ULCCS Ltd. Is an ISO 9001:2008 Organisation.
 It has sophisticated construction equipments to complete the
projects effectively.
 Strong SOP;
 Strict Quality Control
Input-Process-Output;
 Quality is the hallmark their functioning.
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Business sustainability
“Co-operatives are a reminder to the international community that it is
possible to pursue both economic viability and social responsibility.”
- Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General
The Paid up share capital of the society at present is Rs.3422 Lakhs which includes
Rs.173 Lakhs from individual members and Rs.3249 Lakhs from the State Government.
The society even after providing all the statutory dues and labourers welfare
expenses is able to hit remarkable growth rate in profits and the total asset base as
shown in the table given below :
Financial Performance of ULCCS Ltd.
(Values in Lakhs)
Year
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
(work carried out)
4326.80
4941.08
5281.29
7260.04
7654.88
11795.82
Gross Profit
663.43
760.26
1176.56
1662.3
2004.54
1544.59
Total Asset
1368.13
1627.57
2420.08
3629.09
12454.72
14004.96
Turnover
Business sustainability Contd..
However, the focus is not just making profit but also fulfilling social development by
providing work and livelihood of the locality people
 Provide stable employment to its worker rather than to make profit
 Engage in rehabilitation and relief works during natural calamities
 Schooling for workers children
 Women empowerment programmes in the worksite
 Providing short term skill development programmes
 Providing health awareness programmes
 Financial Support for patients and workers suffering from terminal diseases
 Construction of Adivashi houses of good quality
 Providing food, cloth and shelter at the time of natural calamity like flood,
Coastal Erosion
 Undertakes many projects even when profit is to low if it is beneficial to the
member.
Cooperative Values and Principles
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The society is manned and managed by the labourers based on strong
cooperative values and principles.
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The society is imbibe by all the cooperative values and ethics like
Self-help and Self-responsibility - is the hallmark of the society
Democracy – Election is held every five years and there is a active
participation of the member in general body and other committee
Equality – no matter how much money a member invests in their share
account, they still have one vote
Equity – Society carry business in a way that is fair and unbiased
Solidarity – IT share interests and common purposes with all members and
other co-operatives.
Ethical values
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Openness , Honesty, Social responsibility and Caring for others
All the members of the Society construction worker and entire system and
processors of the society is based on the principle of thrift and mutual help
and strong disciplinary rules and procedure.
1.
Cooperative Excellence through Decision makers being the Executors
ULCCS has in its policy that the Board of Directors should also involve in the project
execution. This is derived from the rule that only workers have the right to be in the
Director Board. This ensures uniqueness in compliance of the decision from the Board at
various execution levels. This system is a derivative of cooperative principles and can
greatly help in taking greater leaps in a chosen endeavor.
2.
Cooperative Efficiency through Collective authority responsibility sharing to the lowest
segment
Each worker, at his own level is free to take decisions on the site subject to already set
principles and procedures of the society. This enables a worker to hone leadership skills
and have authority-responsibility match at his own level.
Both these practices make joint responsibility from bottom to top management which in
turn improves contribution and efficiency by several folds.
Keys to success and its emulation
elsewhere
 Trust is the single most factors to the success of intervention.
 Collective leadership
 Joint decision making
 Collective Authorty
 Mutual Help and Self-Help and Solitary
 Concern for Communities
Lessons from the success story
 The system is based on cooperative principles of mutual benefit,
togetherness, collective authority and responsibility sharing.
 Since the decision makers are from the working class, efficiency
in management increases by several folds.
 Strong financial base of the society
 Financial benefits to the members
 Growing member based
 Fulfillment of social objectives
 Quality and Time bound completion of project
 Approximately 2000 people comprising labourers, Engineers,
technician and administrative staff having the employment and
livelihood
 Members worked daily and paid are weekly wages more than Govt.
wages
IN THE 87 YEARS ULCCS HAS NOT LOST EVEN A SINGLE DAY OF
WORK DUE LABOUR PROBLEM
Completed Projects: 3302
On Going Projects: 300
Major Completed Projects
Calicut Bypass
–
33 Crores
CRF Road works
–
15 Crores
NH Realignment
–
12 Crores
Edasherrykadavu Bridge
–
8 Crores
ULCCS Future Mega Project
ULCCS plans to venture into setting up of Cyber Park at Kozhikode co venturing with the
Government of Kerala. This upcoming project is aimed at creating job opportunities for the
third generation members who are educated and seek jobs in their related field of
expertise. Through this project, the society also aims at bringing in development in the
district in which it is situated
Proposal to build a world class Special Economic Zone (Project Cost – Rs. 600 Crores) at
Kozhikode to provide high quality work space for IT and ITES companies. On completion
this sector specific SEZ will have a total built-up area of 31,00,000 Sq. ft. to house companies
in IT/ITES business.
 The society was founded aiming at social, cultural, financial and cultural
upliftment of its members. The society had been successful in attaining
this objective to a great extent
 ULCCS had grown as the biggest Labour Contract Society by providing
direct employment to over 2000 workers from rural areas.
 ULCCS is a good example of how 23 crores construction labourers can
benefit by organising themselves into cooperatives
 ULCCS is a glaring example of workers own, run cooperative society,
has a most favored status for promptness and quality work.
Presented by :
Dr. Dinesh, Chief Executive,
National Cooperative Union of India, New Delhi (INDIA)
Email : dineshncui@india.coop