Isaac Busy Penning Success Story of ULCCS

Former Minister T M Thomas Isaac

Giving a short break to politics, former Finance Minister and MLA T M Thomas Isaac is busy penning a book.

At the tranquil premises of Government Guest House in Kozhikode, the leading economist-cum-politician is scripting the success story of Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS). “See, this is something to be celebrated. ULCCS is a marvel; a classic example of a democratic cooperative, which has developed without compromising on efficiency. Now, we need to showcase its success story nationally and internationally,’’ Isaac says.

The book is likely to be titled, 'Modernisation and Diversification in a Workers’ Cooperative — The Story of ULCCS.’ As of now, Isaac has completed five chapters and the book will have national and international editions. “Certain chapters of the book will be discussed in the upcoming international conference on ‘Cooperatives in Transition in the Era of Globalisation’ jointly organised by the Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society Limited, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, and Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, from September 18 to 20,’’ he says.

Surely, writing a book, which is more of an academic kind, is tedious. But Isaac appears passionate. His association with the ULCCS began when he was spearheading the 'People’s Plan Movement’ in the state as a Planning Board member in the E K Nayanar Cabinet, way back in the late 1990s. “We wanted to avoid contractors and were badly in search of labour cooperatives. Though we tried beneficiary samithis, it did not work out as they were benamis of contractors. Finally, we learnt about ULCCS in Kozhikode, having a turnover of around `5 crore and were surprised to see its style of functioning. They strictly followed an independent profit-loss line of activity with separate monitoring systems for financial flow and physical flow for each projects. We then declared it as a model society,’’ he says.

The rest is history. ULCCS Limited has now emerged as a cooperative with a turnover of around `200 crore. An ISO 9001:2008 certified organisation, the Society provides direct employment to more than 2,000 workers. More importantly, ULCCS Cyber Park is being constructed by the ULCCS IT Infrastructure Private Limited, a company promoted by ULCCS LTD. “Now the mission is to take its turnover to `1,000 crore in 10 years. For this, ULCCS has to follow the development model of the Mondragon Corporation in Spain, one of the largest worker cooperatives in the world, " Isaac says.

What should be done? “There should be a total revamp in the financial management and treasury management. The management should think of setting up a modern design centre and launch lab-testing consultancy services. Publishing a book, launching national and international campaigns and conferences are the other parts,’’ Isaac lists out.

(The New Indian Express, September 2013)