How a Cox’s Bazar cooperative has been serving thousands for 90 years
Around 50,000 people in Badarkhali union are being benefited by the association
Abdul Jabbar's family migrated to the mangrove forest area of Badarkhali in Chakaria, Cox's Bazar, in the early decades of the 20th century after losing all their lands to a local zamindar.
Now almost a centenarian, Abdul Jabbar can still remember the struggles the family went through in those days bereft of hope.
However, they were rescued along with many other landless families living beside the forest areas by an initiative taken by the then British colonial government in India. In 1929, the authorities allotted 3,777 acres of mangrove land in Badarkhali, Chakaria, for 262 landless families coming from different parts of the country.
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The next year, the authorities formed the Badarkhali Colony of Agriculture and Cooperatives Association to ensure certain basic rights for its members, including housing, education, healthcare, etc.
According to official documents, in 1927, the then registrar of cooperative in united Bengal visited the area and proposed organising cooperative societies for the landless people. The decision of land allotment and formation of the Badarkhali cooperative society was taken based on his proposal.
Currently, the joint family of Abdul Jabbar has been living in the area cultivating their own land for more than 90 years being members of the cooperative society. It has also ensured education and healthcare benefits for them.
People concerned said in the last nine decades, the association has become a commune, securing equal facilities for all residents of Badarkhali union. They also claim that it is the largest cooperative society in South Asia in terms of ownership of immovable properties.
Delwar Hossain, president of Badarkhali Colony of Agriculture and Cooperatives Association, told The Business Standard, "We now have around 1,500 members who have 11.60 acres of land each. Around 50,000 people in Badarkhali union are being benefited by the association."
Mustafa Ghalib, a member of the association, said, "The main purpose of the association was to ensure shelter for homeless people. To preserve social harmony, separate neighbourhoods have been formed for the people who have come from different regions of the country."
People have been provided land here on condition of cultivating it themselves. The main agricultural products here are paddy, salt and fish, including shrimp. Locals said salt and shrimp produced here are now being exported abroad after their needs are met.
Md Kabir Hossain, deputy director of the Directorate of Agricultural Extension, Cox's Bazar, said, "There is no landless farmer in Badarkhali union. Everyone has equal housing, agricultural and commercial land. Even the money earned from the unallocated land of the association is distributed equally among the members."
The association has a special fund of Tk5 crore to ensure food security for the people in the union in times of crisis. Members of the association say they got the idea from an old tradition named Dharmagola, introduced in the early years where everyone contributed food grains towards setting up a collective food bank.
Golam Sharif, a senior member of the association, said, "Dharmagola distributed food to the people of the region during the famine of 1943. At the time no one died of hunger in this area as we had stored about 1,200 maunds of rice."
The association established some maktabs, religious schools for Muslim children providing basic education, here in 1930. Later, Badarkhali Multi-Purpose (Government) Primary School in 1935 and Badarkhali Colony High School in 1945, Badarkhali Fazil Madrasa in 1954 and Badarkhali Degree College in 1993 were set up.
Currently, the area has many educational institutions, including 10 primary schools, three high schools, two colleges and several madrassas.
Rashid Ahmed, former president of the association, said that these educational institutions have been built with funds from the association.
"The association ensured primary education for the children of this region before such education was made compulsory by the government. The association used to bear the entire cost of these educational institutions established in the area. The current literacy rate among the residents here is 80%," he said.
The association also provides interest-free education loans for the residents of Badarkhali.
"I took out a loan of Tk2,000 in 1977 while I was in high school and later in 1980 I took out Tk5,000 when I got admitted to the university. Later, I repaid the loans without any interest after getting a job as a teacher," said Abdur Rashid, a resident of Badarkhali.
Time was when the association even used to allot land for families that hired private tutors for their children.
To provide healthcare facilities for residents, there is a union health complex in Badarkhali. However, in the early days, medical services were provided through a paramedic doctor at the office of the association.
Currently, the area has 45 mosques, one temple, 14 maktabs, 20 cemeteries and a crematorium managed by the association with its own expenses.
Moin Uddin, secretary of the association, told The Business Standard, "The association has become a mini secretariat of this union. It is the centre for dealing with all economic, educational, social and religious infrastructures here. The current annual expenditure of the association in administering these institutions is about Tk8 crore to Tk10 crore."
Md Jahir Abbas, district cooperative officer in Cox's Bazar, said, "Badarkhali Colony of Agriculture and Cooperatives Association is a unique model for cooperatives in the country. It has been ensuring all the fundamental rights of the people of the union for 90 years."
