International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology ISSN 2250 – 1959(0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) An Internationally Indexed Peer Reviewed & Refereed Journal

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IRJMST Vol 9 Issue 3 [Year 2018] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print)

Co-operative Movement and the Intelligentsia in a Bengal District, : Search for Achieving the Economic Self-help under the Colonial sway.

Abir Lal Bandyopadhyay Assistant Professor in History, Barjora College, Barjora, Bankura, .

Abstract: - The article examines the performance of cooperative movement in the last three decades before the independence in colonial Bankura. Despite high hopes at the beginning and esteemed contribution of the local intelligentsia the cooperative institutions proved unsustainable due to extreme shortage of capital, unusually high rate of loan default and consequently failed to play a role in rural wellness as promised. The article argues that the seeds of failure were ingrained in the movement as it was used as a tool to the hands of the rural educated bhadroloks and such imposing character of the movement never gave the toiled poor any scope to assimilate themselves with this economic venture.

Keywords: - Bengal, cooperative credit, self-help, samabāi, intellectuals, Irrigation co-operatives.

Nineteenth-century Europe first witnessed co-operative activities with the emergence of the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers in Manchester in 1844.1 In Asia, the first twenty-five years of the twentieth century saw outstanding escalation of cooperative credit societies including in , Japan and many other countries of south-east Asia. The cooperative movement in Bengal was an extension of the global movement for micro-financing of agricultural workers and small scale entrepreneurship.2 Colonial Bengal first experienced the concept of co-operative in rural economy at the dawn of the twentieth century as an instrument of emancipation from alien economic extortion and the exploitation of the indigenous landlords. Under the alien system of government the traditional rural credit system collapsed and consequently, the rural economy gradually became dependent on an informal credit market dominated by Mahajans or moneylenders. Again with the commercialization of agriculture rural indebtedness further aggravated and by the end of the nineteenth century, the agricultural and artisan classes became almost totally subjected to the control of usurious moneylenders. In this background the enactment of the Co-operative Credit Societies Act in 1904 and the Co-operative Societies Act in 1912 encouraged the establishment of several agricultural credit societies in different parts of Bengal. During the early years of the movement, the societies were financed either by loans from government or from private persons and deposits made by members. The government loan up to a certain sum was normally interest free. The village-based agricultural credit societies started giving loans to deserving members. Co-operative societies were also set up for fishing and weaving classes, consumers, and in some urban communities. Among the peasantry and artisans, there was tremendous initial interest in the movement. By the provision of the

1 Achintya Jana, Samabay Andolone Bankura, Bankura, Rarh Academy, 1999, p. 2. 2 Iftekhar Iqbal, ‘Cooperative credit in colonial Bengal: An exploration in development and decline, 1905-1947’, The Indian Economic and Social History Review, 54, 2, 2017, P. 223. International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 74

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Mont-Ford Act of 1919 co-operative became a subject of the state list. Hence the co-operative movement got some impetus from the Bengal provincial government and at the same time by the district administrators. The present paper intends to dig deep into the history of the functioning of co- operatives in colonial Bankura, a south-western peripheral region, mostly unprivileged and starving district of Bengal, how they took a pivotal role in eradicating economic distress and what was the agency of the in the successful launching of this new model of alternative economy.

Concept of Co-operative in the Thoughts of the Local Intelligentsia From the early years of the twentieth century co-operative movements of the West influenced the thoughtful minds of this country. Among the front line intellectuals of Bengal as well as of Bankura Ramananda Chattopadhyay in his Prabasi highlighted the success of co-operative movements in England, Denmark and Ireland.3 He told his readers the story of the development of Jutland in Denmark: how, from a sandy and resource less condition, it grew into a prosperous region through successful initiation of co-operatives.4Ramananda picked up examples from the West [not only Denmark but every big and small state of Europe] to inspire his fellow citizens to work for their own economic development. His genuine interest in co-operative movement was revealed in the utmost sincerity with which he fought for the success of the irrigation societies of the district. To him, irrigation societies were the only path of salvation of Bankura from distress and famine as without irrigation nothing could be done for Western Bengal.5Aside from Ramananda, in 1922-23 the District Magistrate Gurusaday Dutt cited examples from England and Japan to promote the concept of co-operative among the rural inhabitants of Bankura.6

It will be an oversimplification to suggest that the local intelligentsia of Bankura received the idea of co-operative from the West alone, the experience of traditional community feelings, village self-help and togetherness worked behind. Though within a colonial structure it was not a spontaneous move but mostly indulged or imposed from above on the people of the district. It was no less a necessity felt deep within the local community as an alternative to seek freedom from economic misery, social disunity and weakness. The promise and prospect of self-help embedded in the greater agenda of the co-operative movement was conceived as a useful instrument in a colonial milieu. Ramananda very specifically pointed out the need of co-operation in these words: ‘I stand for co-operation amongst those who may be considered smaller men and poorer men, but who by combination among themselves can achieve very great things indeed.’7 Jogesh Chandra put forward the concept of Samāngshi Samabāy or equity-share co-operatives to be spread among the peasants for their own good as it would stand by the peasants in their fight against indebtedness.8No doubt, co-operation was taken as an easy means to escape from the extortionate clutches of the village

3 ‘Bankura O Birbhum’: Bibidha Prasanga, Prabasi, Pous 1331 B.S., Bhag 24, Khanda 2, pp. 419-20. 4Prabasi, Shraban 1321 B.S., p. 390. 5 Ramananda Chatterjee, ‘the Co-operative Movement’, the Bengal, Bihar & Orissa Co-operative Journal, vol. XII, No 1, 1926, p. 11. 6 Gurusaday Dutta, ‘Palli Sangathan’, Bhandar, Magh 1331 B.S., p. 222.

7 Ramananda Chatterjee, ‘the Co-operative Movement’, the Bengal, Bihar & Orissa Co-operative Journal, vol. XII, No. 1, 1926, p. 10. 8 Jogesh Chandra Roy, ‘Bankurar Patra’, Prabasi, Ashwin 1326, p. 570. International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 75

IRJMST Vol 9 Issue 3 [Year 2018] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) sowkers.9 The need of co-operatives in the rural economy of Bankura was also highlighted extensively by the local vernaculars such as Bankura Lakshmi and Lakshmi edited by Prof. Shashanka Shekhar Banerjee. The publication of these journals was intended to propagate the activities of co-operatives in the field of agriculture, cottage industries and irrigation.10 Similarly ‘Bankura Darpan’ took up the issue of co-operation in rural economy as an alternative route to progress.11It was argued that co-operatives would serve the raiyats as an effective shield against the rapacious mahajans, breed within the farmers a mentality to generate funds and savings, and protect them from the ruinous effects of the civil suits by developing the concept of salishi (arbitration).12

Co-operative movement in Bankura: Way to Alternative Development

Co-operative movement in Bengal first got some success in the form of primary credit societies after the enactment of the Co-operative Credit Society Act in 1904,13 and the sense of co- operation in rural economy in Bankura appeared in 1905 with the establishment of Bankura Jela Krishi Samiti (Bankura District Agricultural Society).14But in the first two decades of the twentieth century Bankura was far behind Birbhum in respect of organizing co-operatives in rural areas. Statistical evidence shows that in 1912-13 Birbhum had 33 registered co-operatives, while Bankura had none. When in 1914-15 Bankura finally managed to have one registered co-operative with 21 members and a capital of 228 rupees,15the number of co-operatives in Birbhum by that time went up to 55.16Between 1917 and 1920 the movement in Bankura achieved some success with government’s financial assistance,17 and the number of co-operatives, most of which were credit societies, leaped up from 3 to 17.18 With the help of Gurusaday Dutt and his two associates Shri Sukumar Chattopadhyay and Shri Krishna Gopal Ghosh, Sub-Divisional Officers of Bankura Sadar and Bishnupur respectively, the co-operative movement in Bankura gained a firm footing. Their effort to organize co-operative enterprises in agriculture, irrigation and cottage industries was influenced by the theory of self-help, and the activism showed by these Indian civilians attracted indigenous conscious minds to this field.

From Society to Co-operative: The Progress of Alternative Thought

The ‘Bankura Jela Krishi Samiti of 1905, reconstituted in 1922 as ‘Bankura Jela Krishi O Hitakari Samiti, took the leadership of co-operative movement in Bankura. Apart from Gurusaday and his official associates, a group of Bhadroloks consisting Rai Sahib Bama Charan Roy (Secretary), Shri Prasanna Kumar Bandyopadhyay (Assistant Secretary), Shri Amaresh Chandra

9 N. C. Chakrabarty, ‘Some Stray Thoughts on Co-operation in Bengal’, Prof. J. C. Coyajee (ed.), the Bengal, Bihar & Orissa Co-operative Journal, April 1924, p. 307. 10Bankura Lakshmi, 1st Issue, 1329 B.S., p. 54. 11 ‘Jaldan’, Prabasi, Shravan 1327 B.S., p. 390. 12Krishi Panjika, 1918-1919, Bankura, The Bankura District Agricultural Association, 1925, pp. 123- 24. 13 Achintya Jana, Samabay Andolone Bankura, Bankura, Rarh Academy, 1999, p. 8. 14Bankura Lakshmi, 1330 B.S., p. 2. 15Ibid. 16Krishi Panjika, op. cit., p. 127. 17Ibid , p. 121. 18 Ramanuj Kar, ‘Bankura Jelar Bibaran’, Bankura, 1332 B.S., p. 105.

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Mukhopadhyay, Shri Shashanka Shekhar Bandyopadhyay and Shri Atul Chandra Chattopadhyay came forward to shoulder the organizational responsibility. Babu Shashanka Shekhar Banerjee edited the Bankura Lakshmi, the mouthpiece of the Samiti. These upper caste educated elites of Bankura accepted the challenge of promoting the concept of co-operation among the poor and uneducated rural folk. The Samiti got its patrons from local businessmen, professional classes and to some extent from the zamindars. The list of patrons included Tambuli businessmen like Shri Fakir Chandra Dutta and Shri Trilochan Das of Rajagram, Shri Gopinath Dutta, a businessman and Pattanidar from Bankura, Shri Raj Narayan Chandradhurja, zamindar of Maliara, and men like Shri Surya Kumar Samanta and Basanta Kumar Chattopadhyay who were among the front runners of the local intellectuals.19Though some zamindars and the wealthier section of the district maintained a safe distance from this self-help venture, still within a year 63 new branches of the Krishi o Hitakari Samiti started working at Sadar and Bishnupur Sub-Division (46 in Sadar and 17 in Bishnupur Sub- Division).20

Table -1

Branches of Bankura Jela Krishi O Hitakari Samitiand their Secretaries

Name of the Samiti Name of the Secretary

Mobarakpur Samiti (Bankura) Babu Atul Krishna Bandyopadhyay

Ekteswar Samiti (Bankura) Babu Sharat Chandra Singha

Sanbandha Samiti (Bankura) Babu Shashanka Shekhar Bandyopadhyay

Kenjakura Samiti (Chatna) Babu Ramanuj Kar

Gangajal Ghati Samiti (Gangajal Ghati) Babu Gopeswar Singha

Indpur Samiti (Indpur) Babu Jitendra Mohan Mitra

Khatra Samiti (Khatra) Babu Ram Bishnu Sannigrihi

Ramsagar Samiti (Onda) Babu Jitendra Lal Ghosh

Ambikanagar Samiti (Ranibandh) Babu Nirod Baran Dutta

Sarenga Samiti (Raipur) Babu Abinash Chandra Halder

Simlapal Samiti (Simlapal) Babu Ramkrishna Singha Bara Thakur

Harmasra Samiti (Simlapal) Babu Probodh Chandra Roy

19Bankura Lakshmi, 1st Year, 1329 B.S., p. 86. 20Bankura Laxmi, 1330 B.S., p. 4.

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Shaltora Samiti (Shaltora) Babu Sristidhar Mandal

Taldangra Samiti (Taldangra) Babu Bibhuti Bhusan Mukhopadhyay

Bishnupur Sub-division

Mainapur Babu Karunamoy Roy

Kotulpur Dr Rakhal Chandra Nag

Kuchiakol Babu Keshab Chandra Banerjee

Krishnanagar Dr Priyanath Kongar

Ajodhya Dr Chandra Bhusan Banerjee

Sonamukhi Dr Jotindra Nath Banerjee

Source: Bankura Lakshmi, 1st year, 1329B.S. pp. 34 & 48.

The above Table shows that within a very short span of time Jela Krishi o Hitakari Samiti became very popular and got spread even in the remotest parts of the district. This was made possible by the agency of a group of dedicated, informed individuals. A glance into the names of the secretaries of these rural samitis gives a clear idea about the composition of the organizations. Important elites of the rural community took up the leadership by dint of their educational, professional and financial superiority in the local society. Men like Shashanka Shekher, Ramanuj Kar, Probodh Chandra, Rakhal Chandra Nag and Chandra Bhusan Banerjee came from big landed families and also had a strong educational and professional background.Shashanka Shekher was a lawyer and a professor at Bankura Wesleyan College; Probodh Chandra Roy served as an auditor in Calcutta Corporation; Rakhal Chandra Nag was an accomplished physician at Kotulpur; hailing from a business family of Kenjakura Ramanuj showed the potentials which earned him the job of a reporter of P.T.I. and to head the Prabasi; Doctor Chandra Bhusan Banerjee came from the famous Banerjee family of Ajodhya.21 These samitis were not co-operatives in the true sense of the term, but had some elements of co-operation which aimed at the development of agriculture and small industries of the district on modern lines as also a sense of modern sanitation, health, education and self-reliance.

In 1922 the Jela Krishi o Hitakari Samiti organized the Bankura Sasthwya and Samriddhi Pradarsani (Bankura Health and Prosperity Exhibition). The exhibition was a unique effort to popularize scientific methods of farming, enhancement of health consciousness with the help of pictures and magic lantern shows, and empower the traditional industries of the district like silk, tussar, brass metal etc.22Gurusaday Dutt took the initiative, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray inaugurated the fair, and among the local bhadroloks Shashanka Shekher Banerjee and Dr Ramnath Mukherjee (Editor of Bankura Darpan) shouldered the organizational burden. The working of the Hitakari Samitis and the writings of local intellectuals in the Bankura Lakshmi and in the Bhandar

21 Ramanuj Kar, ‘Bibaran’, Foreward by Tinkari Roy: ‘Ek Jiban Pathiker Katha’, p. 8. 22BankuraLakshmi, 1st Year, 1329 B.S., p. 41. International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 78

IRJMST Vol 9 Issue 3 [Year 2018] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) forced the alien government to form at least one scientific agricultural farm in each district.23The efforts of Jela Krishi o Hitakari Samiti and its branches went a long way in promoting the concept of self-help in the social and economic milieu of this poor district, which soon witnessed the mushrooming of different co-operative societies, banks, and dharmagolas.

Irrigation Co-operative Societies and expansion of agrarian economy

Bankura had always been an underprivileged region in questions of irrigation and agricultural growth. The Jela Krishi O Hitakari Samiti took the first serious initiative in this direction and from 1922 irrigation facilities developed through co-operatives, which spearheaded co-operative irrigation movement in the whole province.24Co-operative irrigation movement first gained momentum in Birbhum to inspire directly neighboring Bankura.25 From 1920 to 1922 several irrigation co- operatives got registration in Bankura (each year three societies were registered under the co- operative law) and the movement received a spurt under the clever guidance of Gurusaday Dutt.

Irrigation co-operatives in Bankura were broadly divided into two categories. Some big societies were formed to build up new weirs across the khals or water ways, while a few smaller societies were created for renovating silted ponds and bandhs.26From after 1922 irrigation societies of all kinds grew up steadily in different parts of the district. Of the 114 irrigation societies working in Bengal in1923, Birbhum had 45 while Bankura had 66,with Bankura Sadar subdivision alone registering 48 working societies.27In 1925 number of big societies all over Bengal having the capacity of irrigating more than 500 bighas of cultivable land were 22, of which 17 were working in Bankura and 4 in Birbhhum.28

The launching of the irrigation co-operatives in different parts of Bankura was solely the result of village co-operation initiated by the rural bhadroloks. The following Table is indicative of the extent of penetration of the idea of self-help through irrigation societies in rural Bankura.

Table -2

Irrigation Societies of Bankura in 1922

Name of the Registration Address Chairman Secretary Class of the Co-operative No & Date Society Hanya Jal No. 98, 26 Village Hanya, Indpur, Jagat Chandra Indra Narayan Agricultural Sarbaraha May 1922 Bankura Misra Pujaree Production. Samabay Samiti Hitasi Jal No. 110,14 Village Hitasi, Indpur, Kanai Lal Girish Agricultural Sarbaraha June 1922 Bankura Mahanti Chandra Production

23 ‘Nana Katha’, Bhandar, 5th Part, Bhadra-Ashwin 1329 B.S., 2nd issue, p. 30. 24 Ramananda Chattopadhyay, ‘Samabai Andolon’, Bhandar, 1333 B.S., 9th Bhag, 1st Issue, p. 6. 25 Gurusaday Dutt, ‘Palli Sangathan’, Bhandar, Phalgun 1331 B.S., p. 54. 26 Gurusaday Dutt, ‘Bangiya Palli Samajer Jiban Maran Samasya’, Bhandar, 5th Part, Bhadra–Ashwin 1329 B.S., 2nd Issue, p. 51. 27 ‘Banga Deshe Samabayer Prasar’, Bhandar, Bhadra 1331 B.S., p. 42. 28 ‘Banga Deshe Samabayer Prasar’, Bhandar, Shravan 1332 B.S., p. 21. International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 79

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Samabay Maity Samiti Golokpur Jal No. 109, 4 Village Kali Charan Ram Kinkar Agricultural Sarbaraha June 1922 Golokpur,Indpur, Goswami Gaswami Production Samabay Bankura. Samiti Brajarajpur Jal No. 91, 25 Village Brajarajpur, Radha Gadadhar Agricultural Sarbaraha May1922 Indpur, Bankura Gobinda Mondal Production Samabay Mukherjee Samiti Jeorda Jal No. 108, 14 Village Jeorda, Indpur, Rammay FakirChandra Agricultural Sarbaraha June 1922 Bankura Singh Singh Production Samabay Samiti Chatarkanali No. 141, 8 Village Nanda Kisor Debendra Agricultural Jal Sarbaraha July 1922 Chatarkanali,Bankura Samanta Nath Samanta Production Samabay Sadar Samiti Sahapukur Jal No.123, 26 Village Gogra, Onda Kalidas Gopeswar Agricultural Sarbaraha July 1922 ,Bankura Chakrobarty Chakrobarty Production Samabay Samiti Gurusaday Jal No. 193, 8 Village Panchmura , S.D.O. Rambandhu Agricultural Sarbaraha September, Taldangra , Bankura Bankura Goawami Production Samabay 1922 Sadar Samiti Mobarakpur No. 126, Mobarakpur, S.D.O. Dasharathi Agricultural Muktakeshi Jal 21June 1922 Bishnupur , Bankura Bishnupur Mahanti Production Sarbaraha Samabay Samiti Dhagaria Jal No. 62, 21 Dhagaria, Patrasayer, ---- Ramrenu Agricultural Sarbaraha April, 1922 Bishnupur, Bankura Patra Credit Samabay Samiti Source: List of Co-operative societies on the District of Bankura corrected up to 3 December 1922, Calcutta, Bengal Secretariat Press, 1924, pp. 9, 16, 26, 27, 32, 37.

Co-operative irrigation societies called the Jal Sarbaraha Samabay Samitis in Bankura Sadar and Bishnupur Sub-Division symbolized the progress of alternative way to development in rural economy. The formation and function of these societies were the outcome of large scale mass participation in the villages, and most often than not, leadership too came from within. Traditional elites of the indigenous society with all their traditional moorings imbibed ideas of Western modernity. On most occasions the organizers of the co-operatives came from landed higher caste shaving Western education that bred in them modern concepts of development and progress. The informed rural bhadroloks realized the need of irrigation and extended all sorts of support to the International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 80

IRJMST Vol 9 Issue 3 [Year 2018] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) societies. Big irrigation co-operatives like Shalbandh, Gurusaday Jal Sarbaraha Samiti and Rukmini Khal Jal Sarabaraha Samiti received monetary and advisory assistance from the local intellectuals. In order to meet the extensive construction cost of the Shalbandh project, local elites like Bibhuti Bhusan Mukhopadhyay, Shatish Chandra Chattopadhyay, Hemchandra Biswas, Bhabatosh Bhattacharya and many others made generous contributions for making Shalbandh the largest irrigation co-operative of Bengal.29 The success of these societies could be measured by the fact that during 1922-23 the king of Shyam during his visit to India inspected the working of several Jal Sarbaraha Samitis of Simlapal and Taldangra.30

Promoting Economic Self-confidence: Formation of Co-operative Banks and Dharmagolas

Co-operative movement in Bankura was endowed with the required financial support by the formation of co-operative banks. Two main objectives of the co-operative system was to save the poor cultivators from the exorbitant monetary claims of the mahajans and to boost up a spirit of economic self-confidence to be achieved through the formation of co-operative banks and dharmagolas. The first serious drive came from Bishnupur where a co-operative bank named Bankura District Co-operative Bank Ltd germinated on 1 April 1921 with S.D.O. Bishnupur as the chairman and Babu Debendranath Dasgupta as the secretary.31The very next year on 4th May 1922 The Bankura Central Co-operative and Financing Bank started working in Bankura town with a capital of 5 lakh of rupees. The bank was intended to advance credit to the agricultural and irrigation co-operatives.32The influential residents of Bankura town and the district officials joined hands for launching successfully this pilot project aimed at economic self-sufficiency. Gurusaday Dutt, Magistrate of Bankura was appointed Chairman of the bank, Babu Sukumar Chattopadhyay, S.D.O., Bankura Sadar and Revarend A.E.Brown, Principal of Bankura College were appointed official members. The non-official members included Rai Sahib Bamacharan Roy and Rasbihari Bandyopadhyay (both lawyers), Babu Harikishin Rathi and Annadaprasad Dutta (both businessmen), Rakhal Chandra Mukhopadhyay(Honorary Magistrate), Raibahadur Baydanath Ghatak (retired Judge), Ramkrishna Singha Barathakur (zamindar), and Shashanka Shekhar Bandyopadhyay (Professor of Bankura College and Secretary of the Bank).33Shashanka Shekhar Bandyopadhyay took the leading part to popularize co-operative movement in every corner of the district. It was in his initiation that Jela Krishi o Hitakari Samiti, Jal Sarbaraha Samabay Samiti and its branches, and The Bankura Central Co-operative and Financing Bank proceeded triumphantly to build the edifice of rural economic self-sufficiency. Among the local intellectuals men like Shashanka Shekhar and Bamacharan Roy did not confine themselves to their respective professional fields, but stepped out to get involved in the struggle of reconstructing a region which was negatively famous for its economic disgrace.

Other than co-operative banks many grain banks or Dharmagolas came out as a co-operative measure to combat the frequent droughts, famines, and food crises of the region. The concept of

29 ‘Shalbandh’, Bankura Lakshmi, 1st Year, 1329 B.S., p. 30. 30Bankura Lakshmi, 1st Year, 1329 B.S., p. 89. 31List of Co-operative societies in the District of Bankura Corrected up to 3rd December 1922, Calcutta, Bengal Secretariat Press, 1924, p. 4. 32Bankura Lakshmi, 1st Year, 3rd& 4th Issues, p. 80. 33Ibid. p. 82 International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 81

IRJMST Vol 9 Issue 3 [Year 2018] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) dharmagola proved to be very useful in a district like Bankura where from the remote past to the colonial period agriculture was primarily dependent upon seasonal monsoon. Archival records of the colonial government show that from 1909 to 1922 many dharmagolas sprouted from the womb of the self-reliance programme of the rural intelligentsia. The Table below offers a list of dharmagolas indicating their locations and the names of persons who were behind the philanthropic projects.

Table -3

List of Dharmagolas indicating their locations and the name of the key persons

Name of Registratio Date of Working Address Chairman Sectary Dharmagol n No. Registratio area a n Dhansimla 474 23 June Dhansimla, Dhansimla,P Purnachandr Umesh Dharmagol 1920 Bhagabanpu S sonamukhi, a Chandra a r Bishnupur, Chakrobraty Banerjee Bankura Radhanagar 419 8 Radhanagar Radhanagar Sarat Manmatha Dharmagol December Bishnupur Chandra Nath a 1919 Chatterjee Chatterjee Bon Asuria 4 16 April Bon Asuria Bon Asuria, Shashi Kulada Rural Co- 1907 Gangajalghati Bhusan Prasad operative , Bankura Nayak Nayak Grain Society Mandarban 175 24 June Mandarbani Mandarbani , Kalipada Sristidhar i 1920 Ratanpur, Chakroborty Chakrobart dharmagola Onda, y Samity Bankura Bhara 479 29 January Bhara Bhara, Keshab Lal Sarat Dharmagol 1920 Joyrampur, Mondal Chandra a Bishnupur Roy Layek 418 8 Layek Layek Bandh, Brajanath Jutindra Bandh December Bandh Punchal, Chakroborty Nath Dharmagol 1919 Bishnupur Chakrobart a y Ajodhya 600 26 March Ajodhya Ajodhya, Dr Chandra Khirod Dharmagol 1920 Bishnupur Bhusan Prasad a Banerjee Banerjee Source: List of Co-operative Societies in the District of Bankura Corrected up to 3rd December 1922, Calcutta, Bengal Secretariat Press, 1924, pp. 58, 63, 68, 73, 78, 81, 86.

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The dharmagola was an indigenous concept of accumulating and storing food grains and seeds for the time of distress and unquestionably its formation depended upon the help of the wealthier section of the village society. Both in Bankura Sadar and Bishnupur Sub-Division upper caste landholders were the backbone of this system and the grain golas helped the poor at the time of misery.

By the initial years of the second decade of the twentieth century co-operative movement in Bankura had evolved as the most useful way of alternative development. The concept of co- operation in the field of agriculture, irrigation and banking initiated by the rural intelligentsia marked a new era of self-help, self-development, and freedom from the exploitation of the village mahajans and zamindars. Agriculture and irrigation co-operatives, especially the Jal Sarbaraha Samabay Samitis did bring about some perceptible changes in the economic scenario of rural Bankura.34 Wherever in the rural areas co-operative movement got some success, jealousies and disputes in village life came down considerably and a sense of unity and mutual support prevailed that got the better of erstwhile parochial conflicts.35At the time of renovating Jamuna bandh within Bishnupur municipal area the people of Atpara and Egaropara joined hands by forgetting their old rivalries and proceeded to form a co-operative.36The sense of unity and fellow feeling achieved through the spread of co-operatives was much more effective than the greater concept of nationalism in this rural and semi-urban tract of Rarh Bengal.

However, in spite of a glaring start the co-operative movement in Bankura failed to achieve any long term success. The concept of co-operatives in village economy was a construct of the rural educated elites and in this sense it was a model imposed from above. The uneducated peasants and the country folk seldom had a scope to enter into the steering committee which prevented them to identify themselves with the co-operative societies. The landholding class reaped the maximum benefit from the inception of alternative way of development but they paid little attention to its growth. The situation became grave by the mid-1930s when it was lamented that ‘It is a matter for sincere regret that sufficient response was not forthcoming from the landlords, although there could be no doubt about the benefit they would derive from a proper execution of such projects.’37 Irrigation co-operatives of Bankura seldom received any financial help from the largest zamindar of the district, the Maharaja of Burdwan.38 Apart from this, Government’s monetary assistance to the co-operatives also declined. From the middle of 1926 the functions of big irrigation co-operatives such as Shalband and Amjhore got restricted due to financial deficits.39The World Economic Depression of 1929 overwhelmed the colonial economy and many credit societies in Bankura either perished or reduced their working boundaries.40During 1935-36 and again in 1943 and 1945 famine reappeared with all its severity, washed away the model of economic self-help and compelled the poor to live at the mercy of mahajans and/or government relief. The concept of co-operative for the

34 Gurusaday Dutt, ‘Bangiya Palli Samajer Jiban Maran Samasya’, Bhandar, 5th Part, Bhadra-Ashwin 1329 B.S., 2nd Issue, p. 53. 35Ibid, p. 55 36 ‘Jamunabandh’, Bhandar, Shravan 1329 B.S., pp. 8-15. 37The Bengal Co-operative Journal, April-June 1934, pp. 190-91. 38 Ramananda Chattopadhyay, ‘Bankurar Unnati’, Prabasi, Baishakh 1331 B.S., p. 119. 39 ‘Bange Samabay Sechan Samity’, Bhandar, Asardh 1333 B.S., 8th Part, 12th Issue, p. 359. 40 Rai Bahadur Shri Sukumar Chattopadhyay, ‘Paschimbange Jal Sechaner Samasya’, Prabasi, Kartik 1346 B.S., p. 84. International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 83

IRJMST Vol 9 Issue 3 [Year 2018] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) economic progress of the district was thus a spirited effort of the local intellectuals, it was a kind of purely Swadeshi endeavour and its success required proper education and awareness of the residents. But in colonial Bankura the movement did not corroborate with proper education and training which resulted into a complete failure of the movement and the search for alternative route to economic progress of the intelligentsia of Bankura remained unachieved.

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