SANJAY KUMAR VERMA
Jr. Editor,
National Cooperative Union of India
sanjayverma@newharmonypress.com
QUALIFICATIONS
BA (Hons.) English, D.A.V. College, Chandigarh
MA (History), Jawahar Lal Nehru University, Delhi
MA (Economics), Meeruth University
M.Phil (International Relations, Chinese Studies, JNU, Delhi
PG Diploma in Journalism from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Delhi
SUMMARY
A short stint in freelance writing on politics, foreign affairs, defense, etc. in Indian national newspapers provided me a good platform to exhibit my analytical strength on diverse issues of topical interest. For more than ten years since I have managed the communications portfolio in the Indian Co-operative Sector covering a wide range of issues. During this time I have become experienced in editing co-operative journals, both topical and research oriented.
My work in cooperative Public Relations (PR) over these years has made me aware of the need for co-operatives at all levels to formulate and implement effective communication strategies. Co-operatives rarely make the most of their excellent opportunities in the PR field. They often fail to see the membership relations and customer relations benefits of good PR. The impact on employee motivation is also significant as morale will always rise when employees can feel proud of the public recognition their co-operative employer is gaining.
I have a track record of establishing effective media relationships and in ensuring the issues and agenda of cooperatives are raised effectively through identifying the best channels of communication to reach and relate to key populations, market segments, and opinion leaders.
I have also played a major role in defining objectives and coordinating conferences, workshops and seminars at national level on a variety of topics including two recent seminars on;
Strengthening links between Media and Cooperatives
Forging Strategic Alliances and Partnerships
(For my recent conference presentation topics see below)
My communications experience and academic interests have helped me as a commentator and analyst on key issues for the co-operative sector and its business environment. (For details of my recent publications see below) I have a strong interest in Information Communications Technology (ICT) and Community Media, and offer consultancy on their applications for co-operative business and governance.
My International Relations background helped me to explore the critical context of globalization and the threats and opportunities it presents for the co-operative sector. My recent research into Tourism and the problems and opportunities it presents is one aspect of this ongoing interest in globalization.
PUBLICATIONS
I have published more than 100 articles, features, reports, case studies, etc. in national and international journals
Recent Publications
Verma, Sanjay K., ‘Revitalizing Cooperatives’, Tribune, (a leading Indian daily), 5 December, 2006 www.tribuneindia.com
Verma, Sanjay K., ‘Cooperatives and Community Culture-Role of Media’, ICA Review (Geneva), October, 2006
Verma, Sanjay K., ‘Brand Amul—Market Strategy for Cooperatives’, Tribune (a leading Indian daily), 22nd Sept. 2006 www.tribuneindia.com
Verma, Sanjay K., ‘Cooperatives and Empowerment – Role of Media’, The Cooperator, June, 2005.
Verma, Sanjay K., ‘Social Tourism and Cooperatives – An Interview with Charles Belanger, CEO, BITS, ‘The Cooperator’, May, 2005.
Verma, Sanjay K., ‘Tourism is Important for Cooperatives-An Interview with Ivano Barberini, President, ICA’, The Cooperator, February 2005.
Verma, Sanjay K., ‘An Analysis of South Asian Tourism Trends’’ in PATA[Pacific Asia Travel Association] News www.pata.org,October,15,2004
Verma, Sanjay K., ‘Community Media and Cooperatives’, International Journal of Cooperative Management, Vol. 1, No. 2, October 2004.
Verma, Sanjay K., ‘Cooperative Centenary Celebrations’, Times of India (a leading Indian daily www.times of india.com), 21st August, 2004.
Verma, Sanjay K., ‘Quality of Services Important for Cooperatives-An Interview with Tan Kin Lian, CEO, NTUC, Singapore, The Cooperator, July, 2006.
Verma, Sanjay K., ‘Cooperative Centenary in India’, New Sector, issue 61, April/May, 2004 (www.newsector.co.uk)
Verma, Sanjay K., ‘Village Tourism Model has Wide Relevance for Cooperatives-An Interview with Dr. Maurizio Davolio, Coordinator, TICA, The Cooperator, May 2004.
Verma, Sanjay K., ‘Communication-Vital for Cooperatives-An Interview with Iain Macdonald, ICA Director General, The Cooperator, March 2004.
Verma, Sanjay K., ‘Communication is a Vital Strategy of ILO-An Interview with Jurgen Schwettman, Chief Cooperative Branch, ILO, The Cooperator, March 2004.
Verma, Sanjay K., ‘Strategic Communications in Cooperatives’, The Cooperator, January, 2004.
Verma, Sanjay K., ‘Success Stories in Cooperatives-Need for Strong Media Approach’, IRU-Courier a Journal of International Reiffeisen Union, October 2003.
Verma, Sanjay K., ‘Challenges Before Cooperatives in Liberal Economy-Role of Media’ Land Bank Journal, September, 2003.
Verma, Sanjay K., ‘Media and Cooperatives : Some Issues’, The Cooperator, September, 2003.
Verma, Sanjay K., ‘Research in Cooperative Public Relations’, The Cooperator, May, 2003.
Verma, Sanjay K., ‘Education and Training in Cooperative Public relations and Editorial Fields-An View Point’, The Cooperator, March, 2003.
Verma, Sanjay K. and Raghavan Jyoti, “Cooperative Advocacy: Means and Methods’, The Cooperator, October, 2002.
Recent Conference Presentations
Verma, Sanjay K., ‘Role of Communications with Reference to Media in Strengthening Professionalization of Cooperative Management-An Indian Experience’, a presentation at ICA Regional Research Conferences, Chiangmai, Thailand, 2nd December, 2004. Verma, Sanjay K., ‘Promoting Peace Through Tourism : Role of Cooperatives’, a presentation at Global Summit on Tourism Organized by International Institute of Peace Through Tourism (IIPT www.iipt.org), Pattaya, Thailand, 4th October, 2005. Verma, Sanjay K., ‘Cooperative Tourism—An Asian Perspective’, a presentation at International Association of Tourism Cooperatives (TICA), Meet, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 14th August, 2006. Verma, Sanjay K., ‘Natural Disaster Preparedness and Rehabilitation in Community Through Cooperative Initiatives’, a presentation at ICA Regional Research Conference, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 15th August, 2006.
Diary
Change in Government Community Radio Policy. Will Co-operatives Respond?
Introduction
Due to their strong community roots, cooperatives in India have success stories in almost every area of socio-economic activity in the recent years. Despite this, it is paradoxical that the image of cooperatives is still equated with Amul, a popular success story which caught the fancy of the masses. However, all this may change soon. A major paradigm shift with the Government finally allowing NGO’s and community-based groups to set up and run community radio stations has given an opportunity to cooperatives to leverage their community strengths through a medium which can understand the concerns of the deprived sections of the society. While the NGOs have become quite active in applying for licenses to start community radio ventures after government approval it is surprising that cooperatives have yet to take a pro-active stance.
Strong Potential
Community Radio can prove to be an effective tool for tapping the vibrancy of the cooperative sector. There are strong reasons for this. Having a huge network of more than 5 lakh cooperatives with 100% coverage in the villages, cooperatives are the organisations which are deeply embedded within the communities in which they serve. Their strong community affiliations is clearly visible in the democratic principles and values which they cherish. The seventh Cooperative Principle ` Concern for Community’ which distinguishes cooperatives from other organisations clearly shows that cooperatives have to respect community ethos, and work for the welfare of the poor people in the community. No doubt, there are many cases where cooperatives have succeeded through community mobilization.
Unsung Success Stories
The cooperative dairy revolution in India has been mainly due to the magic of cooperatives in empowering the illiterate farmers to form village dairy cooperatives so that they are able to market their produce without the interference of middlemen. The sugar cooperatives in Maharashtra have played a pioneering role in community welfare by constructing schools and engineering colleges for the poor. Warana Bazar, a successful cooperative consumer store in rural areas in Maharashtra has mobilized the women in the community to provide leadership at various levels in the functioning of the cooperative.
Despite a few programmes on radio and TV, the powerful messages in the silent revolution triggered by the cooperatives have not been properly conveyed to the policy-makers due to weak communication, and lack of a medium which can connect with the psyche of the community. The unsung tales in the stories of cooperative triumph have not been popularized amongst the masses. Iain Macdonald, Director General, International Cooperative Alliance points out to a stark reality, `Non-communication with the non-cooperative sector is one of the prime weaknesses of the cooperative sector.’
Cases studies where community radio could be an added support to co-operative innovation and business
Cooperatives are the organisations which are participatory in character. Similarly, in community radio people participation is vital for highlighting the first-hand experiences of the people in the community. There exists a strong case for the cooperatives and community radio to join hands and work together. Both the business and promotional cooperative organisations in India have a very strong field presence in the rural areas. No doubt, devising strong community radio strategies keeping into account the local conditions based on people participation would not be difficult in this case. For venturing in the field of Community Radio, the forays which the cooperatives have made in ICT [Information Communications Technology] based solutions can be very useful in showing a definite direction.
IFFCO, a global cooperative through record production and marketing of fertilizers every year has played an important role in agriculture development. The rural portal of IFFCO which has been developed in eight Indian languages catering to 16 states provides information on a large number of areas relevant to the farmers . For approximate dissemination of information to the farmers, IFFCO has set up 100 kiosks in various parts of the country. The grass-root functionaries of IFFCO provide ready help at the kiosks to educate farmers on how to operate computers and understand the portal. If community radio is established in these areas, the internet can be used to collect and accumulate information news and information which can be broadcast through radio.
In Warana [Maharashtra] cooperatives are actively involved in dairy,sugar, farming, etc in the rural areas. The setting up of 54 village information kiosks under an ICT project has led to increase in efficiency of sugarcane growing and harvesting process. The farmers also get ready information in local language about crops and agriculture market prices. Setting up of Community radio and finding the right connections with ICT in Warana would definitely provide a good platform to the voice of the farming community.
Similarly, NCUI has been implementing 46 Cooperative Education Field Projects in under-developed rural areas of almost all the states. These projects with the help of project staff educate the farmers in the rural areas to form cooperative societies for solving their livelihood problems. Community radio here can be used in propagating the advantages of a cooperative society and airing programmes based on the experiences of those who have benefited from cooperatives in increasing their income levels.
Co-operative strength and weaknesses
The cooperatives in the recent times have come under pressure in the market economy due to their inability to project their strong ties with the community. At a time when the corporates are re-orienting their policies towards the community by taking out leaves from the pages of cooperative functioning, the cooperatives need to strengthen their identity through community radio. If the people-centric stories with focus on cooperatives are aired through community radio all over the country, this can popularize the cooperative model of development in a big way.
While this will project a true voice of the cooperatives to the Government, it will also become a good tool for cooperatives to exhibit their strengths in poverty eradication in the rural areas as compared to other organisations.
Recently, US Awasthy, MD, IFFCO opined that cooperatives must visualize ways to start a newspaper of their own as an effective image-building exercise. While this may have a strong logic, community radio has a greater potential to herald a new era in cooperative development. The cooperatives of all types must unite to pool in their resources to start community radio ventures. Can they rise up to a big challenge? Only time will tell.
The need for more published qualitative research studies
It is surprising that there has not been more academic interest in India and abroad with the development of research designs and strategies to investigate what are the principle barriers to improved communications and more rapid response to opportunities and threats in the co-operative sector and on the more positive side what can be done to improve this record?
The New Harmony Press is hoping to give over a whole issue of the International Journal of Co-operative Management to academic research papers on the cases and studies on the thematic title of “Innovation Communication, Culture and Change in the Co-operative Sector.” Papers, Notes on Research in Progress, Book Reviews on these themes should be forwarded to the Journal Editor (see our home page). I hope we can find some good quality papers from India but I sometimes feel that we lack the understanding of the wide range of research tools that can be applied for the qualitative studies which the movement appears to need and lack.
Tourism and Co-operatives. Social, Cultural and Environmental Sustainability Must be Ahead of Economics as Development Priorities.
Governmental encouragement and co-operative responses
The amusement park built by Malabar Tourism Cooperative Society recently on outskirts of Kannur in Kerala is a significant development for the co-operative sector. It is a clear indicator that co-operative sector is eager to widen its horizons engage in the socially complex issues of ethical and sustainable tourism. Sharad Pawar, Union Agriculture Minister, on the occasion of NCDC meeting, has urged cooperatives to utilize the growth of opportunities in the tourism sector.
One of the objectives of National Tourism Policy in India is forging stakeholder partnerships with panchayats and co-operatives. The emphasis on rural tourism by the Government, will encourage cooperatives to leverage their strengths in this field as they have a strong network and reach in the rural areas. NABARD recently announced a new scheme offering refinancing facilities to financial institutions promoting rural tourism ventures. Kerala State Cooperative Bank immediately launched a loan scheme for setting up boarding facilities in rural areas for the tourists. Amitabh Kant, Jt Secretary, Ministry of Tourism opines that co-operatives and NGOs are the best agencies to promote rural tourism. He says, “If co-operatives can come up with a model on rural tourism, then Government may provide them all support’‘.
The co-operative challenge
As organisations with a special commitment to community sustainability they also have an important role in ensuring the right quality of tourist development takes place that is in the interests of the local community’s wider needs rather than focusing on economic factors in isolation. It appears that as compared to NGOs, cooperatives have a strong base in the local communities, and are also aware of operational hurdles in rural tourism. So devising a model which is self-sustaining and based on the local specific skills and enterprise will not be difficult for them as long as they remember to utilise their democratic and participative experience with their local membership and their member’s families.
Who can initiate rural tourism initiatives in the cooperative sector? J.N.L Shrivastava, Managing Trustee, IFFCO Foundation says, “Primary Agricultural Co-operatives [PACs] can take up promotion of rural tourism directly, and they can set up PCOs, small hotels or dhabas in the rural areas. This can lead to employment generation in the rural areas.” At a time when poverty eradication through tourism is vigorously advocated, co-operatives can rise up to the challenge in bridging socio-economic disparities. As rural tourism has strong cultural overtones, PACs being the local grass-root institutions can also acquaint foreign tourists with rich heritage and culture of the region, besides understanding their urge to experience local culture closely. PACs are thus strategically well-positioned to take a lead in providing a definite push to rural tourism.
Education needs to be both top-down and bottom-up
Educating the rural communities on the benefits of rural tourism is very important, and in this respect, co-operatives which cover 100 per cent of the villages can take up this task very well. Through rural tourism packages, co-operatives can showcase good work done by them in the rural areas. Tribal life and tribal products have a huge scope to emerge as a niche area in rural tourism, and in this respect the role of co-operatives can be important. Tribal Co-operative Marketing Development Federation, a premier national level co-operative can play a key role in this regard. Local language customs, food, dress, music and sight-seeing as well as the local co-operatives own economic activities in the agricultural area may have interest to particular types of tourist.
It will be important to bring together two elements here, Firstly a recognition of the need to target environmental and cultural inspired tourist segments of the market (sustainable tourists are needed for sustainable tourism) other types of tourist needs discouraging. Second there needs to be a very careful exploration of the local population and its profiles, concerns, vulnerabilities. Controlling tourist numbers and activities in ecologically and socio-culturally sensitive areas will need to be as much a policy goal as encouraging the tourists. We need a match between tourist type and locality needs if tourism is not to be a destructive rather than constructive force for rural development.
So called backward or underdeveloped Indian rural communities may have much to teach the modern world that visits about the importance of social solidarity, simplicity and working with and through nature. Whether the developed world can be bothered to learn as it rushes headlong into overdevelopment, consumerism, resource depletion and global warming remains a real question.
Can co-operative tourism succeed in the urban areas? This is difficult considering the strong dominance of private players. However, cooperatives can go for effective diversification in the field of tourism so as to provide sustainability in the urban areas. Mudialay Fishermen’s Co-operative in Kolkatta has very well diversified in eco tourism by building a nature park which is providing a big relief from high pollution levels in the metropolis.
Leadership from the Co-operative Federal level
To make effective forays in rural tourism, co-operative federals have to build up a balanced approach to ensure the prospects of raised income and employment opportunities do not blind local people to the destructive cultural and environmental impact of tourism. Co-operatives in some areas may need to have legislative support as any PACs are not allowed to take up non-farming activities due to restrictive bye-laws. There will need to be necessary policy guidelines provided to them so that they can chart out a sustainable road-map for the future of rural tourism.
Despite enormous potentialities and dangers, nationally there is no co-operative policy about promoting and controlling tourism.
Co-operatives have a good opportunity to show their strength and their sensitivity towards both the pluses and minuses in rural tourism. If they succeed, they will be heralding a new era in tourism which serves the interests of all with lessons concerning the pressing wider issues of social solidarity, culture and sustainability that so far no one in developed or developing worlds have really addressed.
Globalisations economic agenda has so far shown little regard for the dignity of the person or the importance of community. Both are central to the co-operative mission and identity. Experience all over Asia and elsewhere shows that unregulated tourism can be a challenge to both. Co-operatives must show leadership in defining a model for sustainable tourism before damage that could be irreversible is done to the rural soul of India.