Discuss the significance of the cooperative model of development in addressing the issues of rural growth.

India is a predominantly rural country. Nearly 60% of population lives in villages and 54% of them is engaged in agriculture. But this large section of population contributes only 20% to the GDP. This data shows the extent of rural underdevelopment and poverty in India. To combat rural underdevelopment and ensure sustainable and inclusive economic growth, a participatory approach to development is needed. Cooperative model of development scales participation of the rural stakeholders through cooperative institutions like SHGs, FPOs, cooperative banks PACS, etc. This cooperatives encourage people to come together to pool resources and capital to maximize the risk and ensure inclusive growth.

Significance of cooperative model: (1) Reduces financial burden on Govt. - by involving the inclusion of people's own cooperative basis, direct financial burden on government is reduced (2) Participatory and decentralized planning and execution as cooperatives consist of local people familiar with local problems. (3) Less risk of defaults - as an incentive, banking sector is able to give more credit to cooperatives. Increasing rural credit (4) Inclusive growth - as marginal farmers and landless labourers get ercss to pool community resources and capital through cooperatives (5) Gender empowerment through women wages higher groups like SHGs to ensure financial and social freedom Cooperative model of development is a inclusive and sustainable method to ensure a holistic growth in rural India