Meaning and Definition of Cooperation
         Cooperation has been defined by H Calvert as “A form of organization in which persons voluntarily associate to-gather as human being on the basis of equality for the promotion of the economic interests of themselves”.

The essentials of this definition are that
(1) A cooperative is a voluntary form of organization
(2) It is an association of human beings
(3) It is organized on the basis of equality and
(4) Its objective is the economic interests of its members.
         The concept of Cooperation envisages a group of persons having one or more common economic needs, who voluntarily agree to pool their resources-both human and material and use them for mutual benefit through an enterprise managed by them on democratic lines.It is joint enterprise of those who are not financially strong and cannot stand on their own and therefore, come together not with a view of getting profits but to overcome disability arising out of want of adequate financial resources and thus better their economic condition. Cooperation is a form of economic organization based on certain values of life. It is a voluntary and democratic association of human beings, based on equality of control, opportunity and equity of distribution. Further, it stands for the promotion of the common interests of producers and consumers. All economic concerns run for profit and profit making is their sole objective. But, Cooperation renders services to its members without the intention of making profits. Cooperation is a middle way between the two extremes of Capitalistic economy and socialistic economy. Prof. Paul Lambert the well-known authority on Cooperation defined cooperation as “An enterprise formed and directed by an association of users, applying with in itself the rules of democracy and directly intended to serve both its own members and the Community as a whole”

          The definition given by prof Lambert was considered more appropriate to explain co-operatives as for the first time it has been made clear that a co-operative society is to serve not only the interests of its members but must also serve the interests of the whole community.

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