While in the immediate future extension of co-operation is most urgently called for in the rural area, where agricultural activities play a dominant part, the urban sector of the co-operative movement also has tremendous potential.

In urban areas there are a number of artisans of small means who find it difficult to organise themselves in keeping with the requirements of modern times. It is to be desired on social as well as on economic grounds that members of this class should be enabled to reorganise themselves to be able to take full advantage of modern scientific methods. Small industries cooperatively using advantages like power and special techniques will be able to make a significant contribution to the industrialisation of the country in general and Assam in particular. The utility of co-operation in the urban areas extends to the credit and other needs of small entrepreneurs and cottage workers. Large amount of capital and other resources are difficult to accumulate in an economically backward state like Assam and Cooperatives provides a very workable via media to rope in the best of collective ownership and mass scale operations together. Successful instances include:

Urban banking conducted on co-operative lines further, has a very important role to play in this field. Co-operative banks are more democratic and more amenable to local control than even small sized joint stock banks, and hence urban banking closely associated, with other forms of urban co-operation ought to be more purposefully developed. For instance, the KanaklataMahila Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd Jorhat, the only women co-operative bank in the state which is organized, managed and services rendered by women only, is a glaring example of not just women empowerment but also easier financial access to the masses.

In urban areas special importance must be attached to consumers' co-operatives. The success of consumers' co-operation will primarily depend on the enthusiasm and preference that the co-operators themselves succeed in creating among their fellow citizens. The Consumer Cooperatives have been playing a very significant role in controlling price rise by offering quality consumable goods at reasonable prices. Successful instances in Assam include Mahabhairab Cooperative Consumers Stores Ltd of Sonitpur District which was even awarded the Biennial Cooperative Excellence Award 2014 sponsored by NCDC. The Railway Consumer Cooperative Stores in Maligaon, Guwahati also serves as an admirable example in this regard.

A problem of urban areas in regard to which co-operation has a special significance has been touched upon is housing. While it is not necessary in this place to cover the same ground again, it must be stated that with the strong urge towards urbanisation that industrialisation is bound to promote, housing assumes crucial importance. While institutional activity such as that undertaken by governmental departments, civic bodies and employers' associations, will meet the situation to a certain extent, a considerable burden of the construction of houses, especially for the middle and lower income groups, will fall on their own co-operative organisations. From the choice of a site to the letting out or use of house-room when it is ready, the work of these housing societies will include a number of departments. A greater sense of collaboration and cooperation amongst these departments will achieve the goal of affordable housing for all.

Details of Urban Cooperative Banks:

1. Functional Banks:

2. Banks under liquidation: