Development Retold Voices from the Field

One of the many initiatives that were born out of the turbulence of India's freedom movement was the Indian Cooperative Union (ICU). Founded in 1948. under the leadership of Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya, the institution undertook several pathbreaking ventures in its attempt to build a new India, all the while advocating the cooperative principles and unshaken in its belief that it was only people-led development that could usher in the nation's new era. Among the ICU's many endeavours were the setting up of Faridabad township by the refugees themselves, initiating agricultural cooperatives and rural credit schemes: running the Central Cottage Industries Emporium in a manner that truly encouraged craft spersons; and developing the Super Bazaar as a cooperative store that met consumers' needs. If ICU's many initiatives met with resounding success, it was because of this voluntary organisation's committed band of women and men who made it possible to translate the principles of people-led development into action in the field. This book is the story of the struggles and victories of ICU recounted by some of these very individuals who are still around to tell the tale. And in the telling of it. while they are sometimes nostalgic about that uniquely magical period in the nation's history, they are equally analytical and incisive as they recall the ICU experience and critique the role of the state in the entire experiment. Through those 18 in-depth interviews. we journey back in time and get a taste of the heady excitement of that generation's endeavours at rebuilding India. But more importantly, these voices from the Held speak of what commitment to people-led development can achieve, and the critical role of voluntary organisations in creating a more just and equitable society.