The Role of Women Dairy Cooperative Society in the Socio- Economic Empowerment of Women Members: A Study of Nadia District of West Bengal in India

The purpose of India’s diary development projects is to empower rural women. Rural women in West Bengal are empowered by cooperatives that produce women’s milk at the village level. A case study of particular women’s milk producers’ society was done in the West Bengal district of Nadia by the Modhumoti women milk producers’ co-operative society, which is a member of the West Bengal Milk Union (WBMUL). The socioeconomic standing of the women members greatly improved when they joined the women milk producers’ cooperative association. A three-tier structure of dairy cooperative groups, including producers’ societies at the village level, unions at the district level, and federations at the state level, was discovered by the study in West Bengal. The study discovered that there are two sectors in the milk marketing system: organized and unorganized. The authors conclude by identifying the employment at one’s own home, an increase in family income, a rise in social status, and economic independence as the three most significant drivers of these women’s decision to join cooperative societies as seen in the study area.