The current status of cooperatives reflects both a threat and an opportunity. It is a threat, because cooperatives have failed, to a large extent, in delivering efficient goods and services unlike the private sector and an opportunity, because the new economic scenario will offer enough opportunities, which could be effectively utilized by the cooperatives to prove their case of continuation. Some of the new challenges to be faced by cooperatives in the new millennium are briefly categorized as follows:

New Challenges

1. A borderless system of economic activity is coming into being. Big multinational companies will take full advantage of the borderless world, without hindrance of national boundaries to undertake large-scale economic activities, which will dominate the world market. Such a new economic scenario, presented a threat to cooperative movement's ability to survive.

2. Since the government now has withdrawn support, due to changed economic priorities, many cooperatives encounter difficulties in generating their own resources and have to completely reorganize themselves to survive and succeed in a competitive environment, without depending n any state support.

3. At present, there are about 207 national and 8 international organizations, which are the backbone of ICA and there are about 754 million individuals spread over 90 countries of Asia, Africa, Europe and America, who are members of ICA. With such a huge and diversified structure around the world, one cannot question the ability of the cooperatives to survive and succeed, but what needs to be deliberated upon is, the new direction towards which cooperative movement should move with firm determination.

4. Internal and structural weaknesses of cooperative institutions, combined with lack of proper policy support have neutralized their positive impact and resulted partly in the mismanagement, inefficiency and corruption in the financing of cooperatives. This has necessitated the need for a clear – cut policy on co-operatives, to enable sustained development and growth of healthy and self-reliant cooperatives.

Keeping in view the challenges ahead, cooperatives have to reorient their strategies, in the changed economic environment of our economy. Some of the strategies to reorient and renew their development thrust in the new environment are:

Development Thrust

1. To face the challenges in a liberalized economy, the cooperatives have to reorient their structural functioning and management. It may include:

i. Enhancing the competitive strength in cooperatives by their merger and division, wherever necessary
ii. Non-viable societies that do not