India’s only Telugu-language newspaper dedicated to the co-operative sector, Sahakarabhoomi, celebrated its second anniversary in June.
Over the past two years, Sahakarabhoomi, which translates as Cooperative Land, published 48 issues covering primary agricultural co-op, women’s co-ops, dairy co-ops, handicrafts co-ops, fisheries and credit societies. The newspaper includes reports on Indian and international co-ops, with a range of news articles and event reports, analyses, interviews and court reports.
Its origins date back to June 2021, when a group of journalists who had just lost their jobs after the closure of Andhra Bhoomi, a Telugu-language daily newspaper, decided to launch their own publication.
Among them were the newspaper’s current editor, Akbar Pasha, and his colleague, Nellori Rambabu, who holds a diploma in co-operation from the the Ramadasu Cooperation Training Centre in Rajahmundry.
“Knowing that our newspaper would no longer be published, my heart sank,” Pasha recalls. “The Covid pandemic was also partly to blame for this. I shared that pain with my fellow editorial desk friends, Nellori Rambabu, Josyula Malleswari, and Bapatla Vasu. The four of us talked about many things in a conference call for an hour.”
Rambabu, who had maintained an interest in co-ops despite choosing a career in journalism, suggested setting up a co-operative.
After an initial conversation, the two pitched the idea to Pasha’s friend, Dasari Keshavulu, an 86-year-old retired employee of Andhra Pradesh Cooperative Department, who suggested launching a publication to cover the co-operative sector. Keshavulu thought the newspaper would provide employment to the journalists who had lost their jobs while giving the local co-op sector a voice.
“This is a co-operative system. Here, everyone should work together with harmony,” he said at the time.
Under his guidance, the co-op was officially launched in June 2023 and has continued to publish its fortnightly newspaper ever since. Keshavulu, who acts as the society’s board chair, also gave up two of his groundfloor rooms which the journalists used as their premises.
“Despite financial hardships, the newspaper thrives with community support and deep-rooted co-operative spirit,” he says, adding that the co-op is guided by the belief that “co-operatives are not just institutions – they are instruments of social justice”.
Published fortnightly, the newspaper also focuses on co-operative education, with an emphasis on the co-operative values and principles, model laws, co-operative best practices, technological innovations and training initiativs. Other featured stories included reports from the 17th Indian Cooperative Congress (2023) and the 2024 ICA Global Conference and General Assembly in New Delhi, as well as articles on global events such as the G20, or UN meetings.
The co-op’s founders say they are guided by Gandhi’s concept of Gram Swaraj, or village self-rule, which sees each village as a self-sufficient, self-governing republic, where power resides with the community and decisions are made through consensus. The co-op’s members include individuals and registered co-ops, with the latter having the option to join as ordinary members with a right to vote or as associate members without voting rights.
“This is a vision of the founders who are veteran co-operators, senior journalists and select co-operative societies who have faith and are involved in the promotion of co-operatives,” he says, adding that the newspaper aims to “campaign the cause of co-operation bringing the true spirit of Gram Swaraj into the limelight”.
To mark its recent anniversary, the co-op launched a special issue at the C. Raghavachari Media Academy Andhra Pradesh.
“Now entering its third year, Sahakarabhoomi invites global co-operative allies for collaboration, story exchange, and solidarity,” said Keshavulu.
