T.A. Ramalingam Chettiar ( 1881 - 1952 ) is the Father of the Cooperative movement. He spent nearly 40 years of his life in trying to make it reach the common man in an apolitical manner. Definitely one can proudly state that Coimbatore gave birth to the progenitor of the cooperative movement T.A. Ramalingam Chettiar. It was under his able and foresighted governance that cooperation made a sound footing in all walks of life not just in Coimbatore but all over the southern part of the country.
T.A. Ramalingam Chettiar ( 1881 - 1952 ) is the Father of the Cooperative movement. He spent nearly 40 years of his life in trying to make it reach the common man in an apolitical manner. Definitely one can proudly state that Coimbatore gave birth to the progenitor of the cooperative movement T.A. Ramalingam Chettiar. It was under his able and foresighted governance that cooperation made a sound footing in all walks of life not just in Coimbatore but all over the southern part of the country.
The first rural credit society formed was Chennimalai Credit Cooperative Society at Erode Taluk in the year 1904. It was when Erode was part of Coimbatore District. Gradually a huge number of rural credit societies sprang up and created a huge network. They addressed the issues, requirements and problems faced by farmers and rural artisans. In the year 1905, the Coimbatore Stores and Bank was formed in the town and it was the first one of its kind. The purpose was to supply foodstuffs and other necessities of life to its members while also lending money. Many cooperative societies were organized and started thereafter. To start with, the societies were tapping local resources by way of deposits etc., for advancing loans to members who were in need of them. The number of societies increased and a permanent source for meeting the financial demand had to be thought of. This resulted in the formation of the Coimbatore District Urban Bank in 1910. The parent institution began to function as ' Coimbatore District Cooperative Central Bank ' and it became the sole financing agency for all the cooperatives in the old Coimbatore District. A statue of T.A.Ramalingam Chettiar is adorning the campus opposite to the Railway Station.
Subsequently cooperation achieved considerable progress. It entered the realm of consumer stores and handloom weavers societies in Coimbatore. The second world war gave an impetus to this movement. During war time, the primary cooperative stores rendered valuable service to members and non members alike in properly distributing the foodstuffs and other domestic requirements at minimum profits. The labourers in every textile mill in and around Coimbatore and other engineering concerns formed cooperative stores for themselves. The Coimbatore Central Cooperative Stores began to cater to the needs of the primary stores to some extent.
The weavers grouped themselves and formed many weavers cooperative societies like the Coimbatore Devanga weavers Cooperative Production & Sale Society., the Peelamedu Handloom Weavers Production Sale Society and the Ondipudur Weavers Cooperative Society. Sarees, dhoties etc., of attractive designs were being produced by the several weavers societies and they found a good market locally and also through the Madras Handloom Weavers Provincial Cooperative Society Emporiums abroad too.
The Coimbatore Milk Supply Union began to supply fresh milk, butter, ghee and other by products to the people of Coimbatore. This was through supply depots at different centres and by vans in addition to the requirements of Central Jail, Hospitals, Military Camps and Child Welfare Centres. The Union pooled the milk from the primary milk supply societies in and around Coimbatore through milk vans daily and supplies were effected quickly at stipulated timings. M.S. Palaniappa Mudaliar was associated with the milk society for many years. The bus stop near this campus was always known as the ‘ Paal Company ‘ Bus Stop. Quite a few leading citizens interested in social welfare were associated with the local cooperatives those days. The institutions were autonomous and did much for public welfare.
In addition to all this, three building societies and one construction society had solved the housing problem of the urban middle class to some extent. Long term loans were advanced to the people in this regard. Coimbatore Cooperative Printing Press was established with modern machinery. T.S. Somasundaram Chettiar put in a lot efforts towards its construction and development. It had an excellent clientele which added to its reputation. An Ex Servicemen Cooperative Motor Transport Society absorbed and gave work to a lot of ex servicemen. The society owned lorries ad lorry transport service was the main business of the society. Besides, the society also ran buses in the town bus service routes and maintained an exemplary standard of efficiency.
The Coimbatore Cooperative Institute used to be in Jail Road and it was founded in 1941. The Objects of the institute was to propagate the principles of cooperation and training candidates for employment in Cooperative Department ( Government ) and in Cooperative institutions. Candidates from the then six revenue districts used to come to Coimbatore for training. The districts included Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Salem, North Arcot, Malabar ad South Canara. The main course known as the Supervisors course was for nine months and it used to begin from July. The fee was Rs.50 and the subjects taught included cooperation, cooperative law, auditing, banking, book keeping and rural economics. Candidates with an SSLC qualification were admitted.
A short term course used to be held for three months from April to June for training candidates who were to work in non credit institutions. They were taught elementary principles of cooperation, account keeping in non credit cooperative institutions, salesmanship and business methods. Those days one G. Rajadorai B.A was the Cooperative Sub Registrar and he was the Director of the Institute. He was deputed by the Madras Government to attend the conference at Lahore, arranged by the Asian Cooperative Field Mission, International Labour Organisation, Lahore. The conference was attended by delegates from India, Pakistan, Burma, Phillipines, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
Later on a building was built in a separate campus in the Mettupalayam Road area for the cooperative institute and it was named as ' THE RAMALINGAM COOPERATIVE INSTITUTE ' in order to celebrate the contribution of the great cooperator T.A.Ramalingam Chettiar.
Cooperation was a successful method those days and its motto was ' SELF HELP AND MUTUAL AID '.