Membership Drive After a Dormant-Member Purge
A cooperative marketing-cum-credit society began the year with 2,400 members and adopted a target of 15 per cent growth by 31 March. At the half-year review on 30 September, enrolment stands at 2,712, of whom 312 were enrolled during the year. A membership audit has identified 140 members who have neither paid their share capital contribution nor transacted for three years; they will be removed from the register on 31 March after notice. The society's women's membership target is 60 per cent of new enrolments; 195 of the 312 new members are women. Of the new members, 58 belong to SC/ST categories against a target of 22 per cent. Each enrolment costs about ₹250, and ₹1,20,000 was budgeted for the drive; ₹78,000 has been spent so far. The board meets next week to decide whether to intensify the drive or scale it down.
1. Compute the year-end membership requirement after the audit removal, and judge whether the target is still reachable at the current pace.
Read the worked answer
Target closing membership = 2,400 × 1.15 = 2,760.
After removal of 140 dormant members, the register on 31 March would stand at 2,712 − 140 = 2,572 if no further enrolment occurs.
Additional new members needed = 2,760 − 2,572 = 188.
Current pace: 312 enrolments in two quarters = 156 per quarter. In the remaining two quarters, that pace yields 312 gross enrolments.
2,572 + 312 = 2,884, which is 124 above the target. So the target is reachable, and even a slowdown to about 94 enrolments a quarter would still meet it.
The judgement is not to relax, however, because the 140 removals fall on 31 March. If the drive stalls in the last quarter, the closing register could dip below 2,760 at the very moment the figures are reported. The board should set a working target of 220 fresh enrolments, not 188, to absorb rejections and no-shows.
2. Is the remaining budget sufficient? Show the arithmetic and set out the options before the board.
Read the worked answer
Remaining budget = ₹1,20,000 − ₹78,000 = ₹42,000.
At ₹250 per enrolment, ₹42,000 funds 42,000 ÷ 250 = 168 members.
Requirement is 188, so the gap is 20 members, or 20 × ₹250 = ₹5,000.
Options:
- Reduce unit cost to ₹223.40 (42,000 ÷ 188). Achievable by holding enrolment camps at panchayat buildings instead of hiring venues and by using members as volunteers; but cutting the cost per head too sharply may mean incomplete documentation.
- Top up by ₹5,000 from the members' education fund or the society's welfare fund, with board approval and a minute recording the purpose.
- Keep 168 and fall 20 short, which fails the target even though the drive succeeds in spirit.
The rational choice is option 1 first, with option 2 as a fallback if the camps cost more than planned. Reporting 188 enrolments with a ₹5,000 top-up is better than reporting 168 and a missed target.
3. Evaluate the women's and SC/ST targets and state what the remaining enrolment effort must achieve.
Read the worked answer
Women: 195 of 312 = 62.5 per cent, above the 60 per cent target. If 500 fresh members are needed for the year, 60 per cent means 300 women; 300 − 195 = 105 of the remaining 188 must be women, which is 55.9 per cent of the new intake. The target is therefore comfortably within reach if the current pattern holds.
SC/ST: 58 of 312 = 18.6 per cent, below the 22 per cent target. Total fresh enrolments needed = 2,760 − (2,400 − 140) = 500. Twenty-two per cent of 500 = 110. Already enrolled = 58, so 52 of the remaining 188, or 27.7 per cent, must be SC/ST members.
That is a stretch, and it is a legitimate reason to direct the next camps to hamlets with SC/ST households rather than to the easier catchment around the branch. Targeting should be by village, with the patwari and gram pradhan helping verify eligibility, and progress reviewed monthly. Falling short on women while exceeding on SC/ST, or the reverse, should be explained to the general body rather than concealed.