Besides agricultural or farmer's cooperatives, Prout advocates the formation of other types of cooperatives, including producer's and consumer's cooperatives. Producer's cooperatives include agro-industries, agrico-industries and non-agricultural industries. The total profit of such cooperatives should be distributed among the workers and members of the cooperative according to their individual capital investment in the cooperative and the service they render to the production and management of the cooperative. Similarly, like-minded persons who will share the profits of the cooperative according to their individual labor and capital investment should form consumer's cooperatives. Those who are engaged in the management of such cooperatives will also be entitled to draw salaries on the basis of the services they render to the cooperative. Consumer's cooperatives will distribute consumer goods to members of society at reasonable rates.
Commodities can be divided into three categories:
- Essential commodities such as rice, pulse, salt and clothing
- Demi-essential commodities such as oil and antiseptic soap
- Non-essential commodities such as luxury goods
If hoarders create artificial shortages of non-essential commodities common people will not be affected, but if they accumulate essential commodities then common people will suffer tremendously. This situation can be avoided if consumers’ cooperatives purchase essential commodities directly from producers’ cooperatives or agricultural cooperatives. Capitalists hoard essential commodities and create artificial scarcity to extract the maximum profit. As a result consumers pay inflated prices for essential commodities, and sometimes they even find that such goods are not available at all. Middlemen and profiteers create artificial shortages of essential commodities knowing that people will certainly purchase them, even by taking loans, but few people take loans to purchase luxury goods. If the distribution of essential commodities is done through consumers’ cooperatives, middlemen and profiteers will be eliminated. Consumer cooperatives should be supplied with commodities from both agricultural and producers cooperatives. Commodities that do not go directly from agricultural cooperatives to consumer cooperatives should be produced by producers’ cooperatives. In addition, non-farming commodities should be compulsorily produced by producers’ cooperatives. For example, agricultural or producers’ cooperatives that produce cotton or silk thread should sell the thread to weavers’ cooperatives that can produce cloth on their power looms. Handlooms can also be used where intricate design work is required, but generally weavers’ cooperatives should install the latest power looms. The weavers’ cooperatives will in turn supply consumers’ cooperatives. The number of items considered essential commodities should be continually and progressively revised and expanded with the changes in time, space and person. Such revisions should be made by the government and not by the board of directors of a particular cooperative. What is considered a demi-essential commodity today may be treated as an essential commodity tomorrow. Demi-essential commodities, which may be affected by artificial shortages causing suffering to common people, should be produced by producers’ cooperatives. The production of luxury goods can be left in the hands of the private sector. The government should manage essential commodities or services of a non-farming nature coming within the scope of producers’ cooperatives, and which require huge capital investments. The railway system is an example. So, for the establishment of a healthy society, agricultural cooperatives, essential commodity producers’ cooperatives and essential commodity consumer cooperatives are a must. (February 1982, Calcutta, Prout in a nutshell 20, Copyright Ananda Marga Publications 2001)
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